Meet the apprentices – Zak Marlow-Payne, Customer Service Apprentice

These exciting opportunities are across our water, wastewater, and support teams in various locations around Wales and allow people to learn new skills on the job while earning a competitive wage.

At Welsh Water we have many employees who have entered our business via an apprenticeship route, who are doing amazing work for us, daily. We strongly believe it's a successful route into a rewarding and fulfilling career with us.

But, don’t just take our word for it.

To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, we caught up with Zak Marlow-Payne, Customer Service Apprentices to find out more about his apprenticeship journey so far.

What is your current role in Welsh Water?

I’m a Customer Service Apprentice working in our retail contact centre.

What were your main interests in school? Did you have any career plans? Had you considered an apprenticeship?

In school, my main interests were biology, sport and maths. At the time in school, I had no career plans and was initially going to go to college to take further education on the subjects I enjoyed - so at that time I had never really considered an apprenticeship or even looked at going into full time work.

How did you find out about the Welsh Water apprentice scheme? What made you want to apply?

I found out about the Welsh Water apprenticeship scheme through my sister who thought I may have been interested in what was on offer. I had a look through the job advert, and it really appealed to me - so I thought I’d give it a go and see where it would take me!

How did you find the application and onboarding process? How did you feel when you learned you were accepted as an apprentice?

The application for the job was very straight forward and easy to complete and the interviews were great.

I was given a tour around the building and was shown what my potential workspace would be like if I were one of the lucky candidates to be accepted for this apprenticeship! After the interview, it took about 2-3 weeks before to hear from Welsh Water.

To my surprise, I received the call when I was walking home from school – Stacie at Welsh Water told me I had been given the job. It was a great moment for me! I’d realised it would be more beneficial to go into work then to go to college, and so far it has turned out to be a great decision.

Tell us about your Welsh Water journey. What’s been your highlight so far?

So far, my Welsh Water journey has been amazing I’ve had lots of highlights within my short time at the company. However, the number one highlight of my journey so far was taking my first few calls after completing full training and being ready for any queries that were about to come my way.

How have you found the support for developing your career?

The support I have received so far has been brilliant. There’s an answer for everything and a solution for everything. No question is a silly question in this company – you’ll always get an answer!

Do you have any plans for where you’d like your career to go?

At the moment, my career plan is to stay within customer service and work my way up to hopefully become a manager one day.