Commercial Assistant Review

Commercial Administrator, tasks/responsibilities - Updating and maintaining forecasts, sales planners, bibles, contacts etc (commercial systems) Interactions: Internal and external communication with customers. Internal meetings

Diploma level 3 in food safety and management. Improved It skills e.g Excel training and use. Communication skills. Time management.

I thoroughly enjoyed the on site aspect of the apprenticeship, working in the commercial team and building professional relationships. I disliked the off site diploma qualification as we just had to reference what we was doing in every day work so I didn't learn a great amount from it. I would have preferred doing real training for the specific job role in my case marketing training/ sales training/ product development training.

I feel a valued member of the team especially since being promoted after the apprentice scheme. I receive genuine recognition for good work and achievements. I think this could be improved by giving a proper progression plan as an apprentice to see how you can get promoted and how your manager would recognise and want to give you a promotion.

This is difficult to answer in my case as the qualification whilst referencing what we did at work was completely separate to day to day work. Ultimately I had a day job and did a qualification for a 2 week period the scheme was joined up.

Off site qualification done at Lincoln college. No real training for job role.

I got a great amount of support from my manager and colleagues along with a mentor that really helped me progress and build my confidence in the working environment.

Fortunately for me I live close to my bakkavor site therefor fuel isn't a big issue however general car running costs are still very expensive for a young driver and possibly would mean quite a few apprentices would struggle to drive. The salary is reasonable however after all costs per month are considered you have little for any social spend.

There are different opportunities outside of work however being local to the area I was already aware of activities.

Yes

Really good foundation for any start to a career via the apprentice scheme. You can gain vast experience within a fast paced business with a real responsibilities and work demands. Also would recommend to anyone looking for employment as the business values you, is hard working, passionate and wants to succeed with a really strong team approach.

Tips before applying would be study the Bakkavor values and make sure you can meet each one, have a passion for the area you want to go in sales/ process/ npd. What do the opportunities for development and progression look like?