Why I chose to be an apprentice with a car dealer

My name is Mercedes Lopez. I’m 28 and I work at Kia RRG Bury as a Light Vehicle Technician, part of the Kia apprenticeship programme.

I grew up a mechanic’s daughter, my dad works for the RAC and was always taking me to the Moto GP when I was a kid. I’ve always been around cars, but I never viewed it as a job prospect.

When I left school, I spent a lot of time in jobs I didn’t enjoy. After a while, I decided to go back to college part time in order to complete my level 2 Light Vehicle Maintenance qualification. The course took place inside a classroom most of the time and I wanted to be more hands-on.

I began applying for apprenticeships with a number of car manufacturers and was met with some reservations.

Firstly, I was a woman in a hugely male-dominated industry and wasn’t taken seriously. Secondly, I was 27 at the time, and the government offers less funding for over-18s, so that was definitely a barrier too.

I persevered and found an apprentice role at my local Kia dealership, RRG Bury. They gave me a trial week almost straight away and offered me the apprenticeship a few days later.

I’m just finishing my first year and have been doing a lot of servicing and warranty work, as well as getting under the hood of cars.

I would love to continue working for Kia – they put a lot into their apprentices and there’s such a great atmosphere.

Their training programme was recently rated the best in the country and I can see why.

As part of National Apprenticeship Week, Kia Motors is championing its award-winning training programme and apprenticeship scheme by profiling some of their brightest young talent.