Home Entertainment Sales Apprentice Review

My daily role centres around supporting my team (the National Account Managers) across a multitude of different areas. This can be anything from sending promotional stock out to our customers / clients, to dealing with asset requests from creative agencies, to organising and helping to present new products to customer buying teams.

When working within a sales team, you are likely to pick up lots of new skills. In particular, my presentation skills have grown a tremendous amount in the 8 months I've been involved at Warner Bros. , to the point where i am comfortable pitching to important customers, or leading and important discussion within internal meetings. On top of this, my IT skills have also benefited from a greater exposure to the Microsoft Office package as well as internal financial systems.

Since the beginning of my program, i have really enjoyed my time with Warner Bros. Not only do i work with a really enthusiastic and supportive team, i also have a lot of exposure with different teams and colleagues of varying seniority. This has meant I've got to meet a lot of new people with the same interests with me, and work on lots of new and exciting projects!

The structure for apprenticeships at Warner Bros. , in my experience, has been fairly fluid, which has given me lots of room to expand and specialise on some of the tasks i complete. Whilst i still have the standard weekly meetings with my manager and monthly meetings with my apprenticeship coach, as well as internal training session from time to time, I've been able to pursue the avenues i'm particularly interested within my team (such as franchise work), rather than being shoehorned in with generic weekly tasks (although of course there are some of these!)

The support structure within Warner Bros has been really helpful in getting me acquainted with working in a big company. Whilst i know that i can rely on my manager and the HR team, as well as other sources including my full team, i haven't had too much experience in reaching out to other sources. However, i'm aware from others experiences that there are many other support structures in place, from confidential meetings and phone calls to physical / mental health support if needed. In addition to this, my team have been really supportive in acting like role models, which has showed me how to conduct myself within the work environment.

My apprenticeship provider (as well as my coach) are both very keen in helping with any issues that may appear whilst on my apprenticeship. For example, if i am struggling with a particular area, they offer tailored online courses (e.g. on presentation or IT skills) to help improve my skills in the area. As well as this, my coach has always been available via e-mail or phone if I've needed help.

The modules that form my qualification provide good insight into the different areas of business life and culture, ranging from finance to internal politics to managing stakeholder relationships. This has come in really handy at different points in the last few months, where i have been able to give more rounded input to tasks due to extra knowledge on how, for example, we could best pitch and idea out to retailers.

Warner Bros. has lots of different groups and activities that you can get involved in outside of work hours. For example, the company group OUT runs events that raise awareness for LGBTQ+ issues in the workplace. Outside of this, the local community (gyms, pools etc) offer discounts to WB staff members which can be really helpful if you are looking to ht the gym. Working for a company of Warner Bros. size is also great as it opens opportunities to attend industry networking events, such as with the games industry group UKIE.

Yes

Warner Bros is a great place to work. The people that work here are all really friendly, and passionate about the content they work on, be it Film, TV, Games or anything else. Working at the company gives great insider access to the industry, and is a great way to see how the entertainment industry works from the inside. You also get the opportunity to work among professionals that have been in their fields for a long time, and as a result you can learn from the best. The pay is also pretty good compared to most apprenticeships!

Learn about the company. The tasks that you'll have to complete on your assessment day will be to do with some WB content, so it's always useful to know some of the popular Films, TV shows and Games that they work with (knowing a few less known titles is also helpful)! I can remember a few awkward moments from my assessment day where unsuccessful applicants listed Marvel characters as Justice League members... Outside of this, remember to introduce yourself to everyone, you'll make more of an impact if people can remember your name!