Apprentice Academic Administrator& Events Assistant Review

I am working across 3 different departments: finance, academic administration and events. I am writing blurbs for events, put together academic timetables and help out with the book keeping by receipting invoices, ordering items and processing expenses claims and payment request forms. In Every week I am sending out 2 different newsletters to students (one about professional opportunities and one about upcoming events), I also co-convene a concert series every Wednesday.

I learned to be patient, organised and much better with my own time management. I improved my English (which is not my first language) in a professional and personal context, and also learned to set myself goals and targets and stick to them. I work much more concentrated and got better at prioritising.

I really enjoy my programme because I have the opportunity to learn and develop my skills whilst working in a full-time job. It is extremely helpful to be able to undertake so much training and be part of the team at the same time, being treated as a full-time member of staff.

It is very well structured, although I sometimes struggle to make time for training outside of work due to my job role working across three departments. However, I think my programme is extremely well structured and I enjoy the organised nature of the programme - it makes aims and achievements more visible.

I receive a lot of support from my employer. I am able to undertake many trainings and workshops, try new things and see what I like best. I also get support in form of a mentor and coaching which my employer pays for, this is extremely helpful and gets me through difficult situations.

I receive a lot of support from my training provider. It is extremely helpful to have a training coordinator and an assessor who visit me separately - so that I can address different issues to both and have different people to talk to. Especially my training coordinator has been amazing and given me a lot of great advice to deal with difficulties I might face.

It helps me immensely, especially the ICT training since I thought I would be good with IT software, but it turned out I only knew half of it - I can now work much more efficiently knowing all the tools Excel and Word entail, and it helps me to stay on top of things.

I am still writing academic articles. having finished my Master's only recently. I also play the drums in a band, do weekly marathon training, Yoga, drawing and love reading in my free time. I also network with other apprentices, go to the events that the university offers (Research Colloquia and Concerts).

Yes

Very fair employer, lots of benefits for staff. The employer is committed to increase equality and diversity and I work with amazing, very qualified, people who are not only colleagues but became close friends. The university supports staff members in a variety of ways, to ensure that physical and mental health are taken care of.

It is definitely worth applying for an Apprenticeship at the University of Oxford - the institution seems more "scary" from the outside that it actually is. Just try to be yourself and be prepared to try loads of different things that you might not have thought you would like to do before.