What matters more when you're hiring someone new: the grades on the page, or everything else?

For Joanne Lennox, it's everything else.

In this episode of Workplus, host Richard Kirk sits down with Joanne Lennox, Founder of JLC Solutions and one of the people behind one of Northern Ireland's earliest apprenticeship pathways in construction. Joanne spent over thirty years working in the people function, from the shop floor to senior HR leadership, before stepping away from the corporate world to become an independent consultant.

Joanne talks candidly about why she got her first job in a coffee shop just to start earning, why she pushed back on the idea of being "work ready" in favour of being "life ready," and why only 11 percent of employers in Northern Ireland currently offer apprenticeships. She also shares the honest truth about what actually makes a candidate stand out in an interview, and what doesn't.

Whether you're a parent, teacher, young person preparing for interviews, or an employer thinking about building an apprenticeship programme of your own, this episode is full of practical, no-nonsense advice.

In This Episode:

— Why Joanne chose a coffee shop job over anything else, just to start earning

— The difference between being "work ready" and being "life ready"

— What the "people function" really means beyond traditional HR

— How Joanne helped build one of Northern Ireland's first apprenticeship pathways in construction

— Why only 11% of employers in Northern Ireland offer apprenticeships, and why that's a missed opportunity

— What actually differentiates candidates at interview, beyond their grades

— Joanne's honest interview pet peeves after decades on the other side of the table

— Her advice to her own 16-year-old: don't panic, you don't need it all figured out

— What's so good about work, fifteen years after that first coffee shop shift

YouTube Chapters:

00:00 - Welcome to Workplus

00:21 - What did you do for work experience at school?

02:06 - The skills work experience gives you that a classroom can't

04:12 - Work ready vs life ready

06:31 - What is the "people function"?

08:35 - Building a toolkit: how HR skills develop over a career

13:11 - Advice for a 16-year-old trying to choose a path

16:32 - Building one of NI's first apprenticeship pathways

20:03 - What apprenticeships opened up for the organisation

25:33 - Why only 11% of NI employers offer apprenticeships

26:50 - What really differentiates candidates at an interview

30:17 - Interview pet peeves

33:35 - Learning from a degree apprentice in her own team

36:14 - Advice to her 16-year-old self

38:01 - What is so good about work?

Thanks for watching Workplus, the podcast that shines a light on the people doing good work across Northern Ireland.

Find more stories, resources, and tools to help guide the next generation at workplus.app

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#careerdevelopment #apprenticeships #northernirelandcareers #workpluspodcast #hrleadership #careeradvice #youthemployment

🎧 Thanks for listening to Workplus, the podcast that brings real jobs into the light.

🔗 Find more stories, tools, and guides to help young people and returners explore meaningful careers at workplus.app

📩 Know someone who would find this helpful? Share it with a parent, teacher, or future changemaker.

🎙 Follow so you never miss a story.

🎧 Thanks for listening to Workplus, the podcast that brings real jobs into the light.

🔗 Find more stories, tools, and guides to help young people and returners explore meaningful careers at workplus.app

📩 Know someone who would find this helpful? Share it with a parent, teacher, or future changemaker.

🎙Follow so you never miss a story.

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