An apprentice from Swansea who works at Amazon’s fulfilment centre in the city is encouraging others to become an apprentice and pursue their dream career during National Apprenticeship Week 2026.
Sara from Swansea is taking part in the Amazon Apprenticeship programme and is sharing her story to encourage others to consider an apprenticeship.
Sara Evans works as an Area Manager at the Amazon fulfilment centre in Swansea. She is completing an Operations Management Higher Apprenticeship with Amazon through the University of Exeter Business School, which she is due to finish in March 2026.
Sara started with Amazon over 10 years ago – she joined in 2014, knowing very little about the company. At 18 years old, it was her first job.
“I literally had no idea about anything back then. I had obviously ordered lots of stuff from Amazon before, but I didn’t know anything about how it worked,” Sara said. “As soon as I started working there, I thought, ‘this is pretty cool’. There’s so much more to it than I ever expected.”
Sara began as a stower but quickly realised she wanted to try something else. After a few months, her team leader recognised her potential and set her up with training opportunities. Sara became first-aid trained, fire marshal trained and trained as an instructor. She then moved to a new department, where she was trained as a team leader for the first time.
It was during this period that Sarah completed her first apprenticeship – a tier one qualification that helped her secure a permanent team leader role. She remained in that position for several years before stepping up to manager. When she saw another apprenticeship opportunity for the management role, she applied immediately.
“The self-awareness I’ve gained through this apprenticeship has been really beneficial. The things we’re learning and books we’re reading are all very helpful for developing interpersonal skills. As a manager, earning people’s trust is the biggest element. The way you talk to people, your body language – my apprenticeship goes really in-depth on this aspect, which I like. It’s something you can bring with you anywhere, it’s not just specific to one job.”
What Sara loves most about working at Amazon is the people.
“You work with so many different people. You've got to be honest and open with the team, and then it all works. Everyone wants to work for you and you work as one big unit. People remember everything, so you've got to be yourself.”
Sara explains that she had always wanted to go to university and regretted not pursuing it. She had looked into studying whilst working but would have had to drop her hours and go part-time, which wasn’t feasible in a team leader or manager role. When the apprenticeship opportunity appeared, it was a no-brainer.
“I can do this while I’m working. Why wouldn’t you do it?” she said. “There are no negatives, only positives. You get a degree out of it, you learn something new, you meet new people, and you get to travel to Exeter for coursework. It’s an amazing opportunity.”
The most important thing Sara has taken away from her apprenticeship is self-awareness.
“You learn a lot about business operations and finance, but it also goes into you as a person and what you bring to the business. That’s going to help me in my progression now – understanding what I actually bring to the business and what I want to get out of it.”
Sara’s advice to anyone considering an apprenticeship is straightforward. “Just do it. It’s a no-brainer.” While she’s committed to the management side for now, she's keeping her options open for the future.
“I want to just see how it goes. I want to complete the degree and see where it takes me. There’s so much at Amazon, so many different fields. Maybe I’ll want to change to a different field later, like IT or HR. There are so many different things I could do.”
The Amazon Apprenticeship programme is recognised as one of the UK's top three apprenticeship schemes by the Government’s Department for Education.
Young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can also take advantage of the Amazon Supported Internship programme. Launched in 2021, the initiative combines classroom learning with practical work experience; helping interns develop essential skills in English, Maths, and CV writing, while gaining hands-on experience across three operational job functions.
Pay at Amazon starts from £13.95 or £14.96 per hour depending on location, equating to between £29,037 and £31,116 annually. Additionally, from day one, all employees are offered a comprehensive benefits package including private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection, and an employee discount. Together, these benefits are worth more than £700 annually, and employees can take advantage of a company pension plan.
Applications are now open for Amazon’s apprenticeship programme. For more information, visit: www.amazonapprenticeships.co.uk
