From Taco Bell restaurant to Yum! Brands HQ - Toby’s professional apprenticeship experience

Starting as a shift lead at Taco Bell while earning his degree, Toby decided to take on a Multiverse training program to drive his career forward. By advancing his Javascript, HTML, CSS and SQL coding skills, Toby is gaining new responsibilities and carving out a promising career at Taco Bell’s parent company Yum! Brands. In the spirit of National Apprenticeship week, we sat down with Toby to find out more about his Multiverse program experience and where his career is going next.

Multiverse: Hey Toby! Great to have you with us today. Could you kick off by telling us why you decided to pursue a professional apprenticeship program with Multiverse? What about it stood out to you?”

Toby: The biggest reason I decided to pursue the apprenticeship program at Multiverse was to help reinforce the skills I was learning in school while gaining new skills that I didn't have yet. It was also a path that allowed me to stay with Yum! Brands.

Multiverse: Our training programs are different to the traditional college system. What would you say has been the most valuable aspect of the applied learning style?

Toby: I found Multiverse’s applied learning format to be valuable because it allows me to put what I learned to use right away. This helps to reinforce it in my mind and hold onto the learning for longer.

Multiverse: That's awesome. In your opinion, what are the benefits of a professional apprenticeship program compared to other training programs?

Toby: To me the benefits of the apprenticeship program start from day one. After my first week of boot camp, my team at Yum! would give me some quick easy things to complete, which would help reinforce what I was doing at Multiverse and give me the chance to start learning the systems that we work with. Another benefit is the collaboration between you, your Multiverse Coach and your Yum! Brands supervisor to ensure that all your work aligns with your Multiverse goals and your company goals.

Multiverse: We talk about building tech and digital skills a lot at Multiverse.What specific skills have you acquired throughout your apprenticeship? How have you applied those at work?

Toby: I acquired new skills in JavaScript and reinforced my skills in HTML, CSS and SQL. The great thing about my role with Yum! Brands is that I use all of those languages in my day-to-day work. I also learned to think out of the box for a solution when it came to our projects at Multiverse. As programmers, nothing is the same each time we are presented with a problem, and thinking outside the box allows us to come up with creative solutions.

Multiverse: Great to hear you’ve been using your new experiences to problem solve at work. What’s been your proudest moment of your apprenticeship program?

Toby: The proudest moment of the program has nothing to do with the learning or the projects that we have completed. To me the proudest moment has been seeing my cohort become close. My software engineering cohort, which is geographically scattered, recently came together in person to celebrate birthdays. After all our teamwork and getting to know each other remotely, it was great to spend time together and have fun.

“Due to Multiverse, the trajectory of my career changed so dramatically and so positively. Before the opportunity with Multiverse came along, I was working as a Shift Lead for Taco Bell and attending classes at Lone Star College working on my AAS of Computer Programming.”

Multiverse: How has the program impacted your career going forward?

Toby: Previously, I had been talking to my Restaurant General Manager about entering Assistant Manager training and wondering if I was going to find a job in my field once I completed college (the worries of all college students). Now, as a result of this program, I have transitioned from working inside the restaurant to supporting restaurants at a corporate level. I still have to complete this semester and next semester, but when I do, I will earn my degree and already be working in my field. Right now, the sky’s the limit on the trajectory of my career thanks to Yum! Brands and Multiverse.

Multiverse: That's amazing news. To transition from working at Taco Bell to working in the corporate office at Yum! is a fantastic achievement. From your perspective as an apprentice, how do you see apprenticeship programs influencing the future of work as a whole?

Toby: I see apprenticeship programs having a big influence on careers and the way companies will look for workers. Companies will benefit, retaining and upskilling employees by providing relevant work experience and training through a program like Multiverse at the same time. Workers will feel better about the work they are doing as they are getting the training they needto add value immediately.

Multiverse: To sum up, how has your apprenticeship shaped your life going forward?

Toby: The apprenticeship program has impacted my life by reinforcing that I can do what I set my mind to.

We can all learn something from Toby’s persistence, hard work and willingness to take up a new opportunity. Stay tuned this week for more inspiring stories from Multiverse apprentices. Next up, technology apprentice Malik Willis.

Ready to transform your career? Let us know you’re interested or head over to our website to learn more about our professional apprenticeship programs.