Finance Apprentice Review

As a Finance Apprentice I do 2 1 year placements in different finance functions. My current role is within Supply Chain working in the Procurement Finance team. My day to day tasks vary and includes producing reports, looking at payment terms of our suppliers, validating savings made by procurement, running credit checks on suppliers and more. I mostly interact with people internally such as buyers and other people in the business.

At the end of the Finance Apprenticeship you will have a Diploma in Business Accounting. You do the certificate level of CIMA and complete a portfolio of written assessment and work based evidence. I have done a few computer courses such as excel and powerpoint to improve my IT skills. I have also developed my communication skills and have become more confident.

All the people I have worked with on the scheme have been really friendly and helpful, which makes work more enjoyable. My roles have been varied and interesting over the 2 years so I have got a good idea of the different areas of finance which will help me going forward once I've completed the apprenticeship.

In my team I do feel valued and get positive feedback from the work I do. I get involved with value adding tasks and projects so I feel like the team think I'm capable of doing more challenging tasks which is motivating.

In terms of studying I think the programme is well structured. You get day released to study for your exams and my managers always made sure I had time to complete my portfolio work. The induction was also good, we went for a 1 week induction before we started so we knew more about Nestle, then my induction into my role was also good and everything was set up for me before I started. I had support from both managers I've had over the 2 years with regular catch ups and I was always encouraged to ask for help and support when I feel I needed it.

I received really good support from my tutors at Kaplan and they encouraged us to email them outside of lessons if we had anything we were stuck on for the exam.

I received good support from Nestle. I have regular catch ups with my manager to go over any issues related to work or study.

For me, my salary meets my basic costs. I live at home so don't have to pay rent, but it covers the cost of having a car, travel, food and other essentials and I still have money left over.

I haven't taken part in any but Nestle is such a big company I'm sure there would be something to take part in.

Yes

Nestle are such a big company and have so many career opportunities. Everyone is really supportive and friendly and willing to talk with you and help you get to where to want to go in your career. They also have great benefits such as flexible working hours, discounts and a yearly bonus.

Spend time on your application - a lot of people apply so you need your application to stand out and represent you in the best possible way. If you get to the assessment day definitely prepare and research Nestle so you know a bit more about the company. There are lots of opportunities available at Nestle so I would take as many of them as possible and don't be shy! Everyone is really friendly and want you to do well.