Assistant Biller Review

I am an assistant biller for a company called filmbankmedia which is part owned by Warner therefore my apprenticeship is dealt with by Warner. My day to day tasks include running a report in the morning to see the revenue generated from the previous day, billing film licences and writing credit notes. Every month i calculate some of the companies licensees as well so they can be billed.

I am currently doing my AAT level 3 with my apprenticeship. Due to the nature of my job there are certain skills that I have developed for example computer based skills such as use of Excel. I also now have some experience with accounting systems such as SAP.

As soon as I started with Filmbank I was immediately welcomed in and didn't take long to settle in. Filmbank is currently quite a small company and I think this helped as it made it easier to get to know everyone. As a company Filmbank are very accommodating for the course I am doing which means I have plenty of time to revise and make sure I'm on top of the course as well as my work.

The team i work with have always made me feel valued as they make sure to let me know if I've helped them with a task they may not have had time with or if they need help searching up a customer etc.

As I was the first apprentice for Filmbank there was not a set structure to follow because they were as new to apprenticeships as I was but considering this I would say it has been well organised. When i first joined i had inductions with everyone in the company so I could learn what they done and how that helped the company. My training was efficient as I was learning from my manager who at the time was currently doing all the tasks I was being taught which meant any questions I had could easily be answered.

I mainly receive support from the training provider via emails to check up on me and then a meeting on the phone every couple of months. I am currently doing online live classrooms to get through my course but have found revision by myself a more effective method. The company however is very accessible if help was ever needed and are always happy to help via email or phone call.

My employer is very accommodating when it comes to my course and are happy to give me time off for revision. They emphasize that I am primarily an apprentice and so when it comes to my course I would be treated differently to other employees, for example getting time away from work to study.

The salary i receive is good for an apprentice as it covers all travel expenses and daily costs that come from working in London. I did find a large chunk of my salary was taken by my travel but that's due to where I live. The company did assist with this and paid for the annual ticket and then went on to deduct this slowly from my pay which made paying for it a lot easier.

Warner is a great company to work for in the sense of outside work as they have many schemes in place for employees. They have an amazing charity scheme that makes volunteering easier and offers money to charities that employees support. Another example is the Active scheme that it runs in which you can receive a pedometer and earn prizes for the amount of steps you do.

Yes

Although the company I work for is only part owned by Warner we get treated the same as the Warner staff which means chances to win tickets to premieres, early screenings of films, consumer product sales etc. In my opinion, Warner is a great company to work for as the culture here is quite relaxed and friendly meaning it is a nice environment to be working in and for someone who has just come out of sixth form it is such an easy transition.

When applying for my position I found they were looking for someone who would effectively get the job done and would fit into the team and get along with everyone. I think with a company such as Warner or Filmbank a lot of the choice will be based on whether you'd fit into the team and contribute not only task wise but personality wise as the morale of the team is important here.