Project Management Apprentice Review

On my apprenticeship, my role can vary dependant on the placement I am currently in. My apprenticeship consists of 6 x 6 month placements, this is to ensure we get a broad range on knowledge and skills about delivering projects. in my last placement in project controls I worked on the financial part of the business case, period end reporting and much more. I am currently in a Project Management placement and this involves dashboard reporting, RAID Log and more.

Whilst being an apprentice I would say I have developed many skills as well as building on existing skills. Being an apprentice has allowed me to build on my confidence as well as improving my communication skills. As a project manager, communication is key and therefore building on this skills was vital for development. other skills which I have been able to build on include team working, literacy skills and computer skills such as excel and visio.

I really enjoying my apprenticeship programme. It doesn't just allow me to build on my knowledge, skills and behaviours but allows me to build on my network and develop as an individual. Due to moving placement every six months in to a new area of project management, essentially, every day is different.

Overall, my apprenticeship programme is well structured and organised. If we need support we have a team of people which we can contact. when we arrived at the company our induction was in depth and allowed us time to get to know each other. Nevertheless, I believe some improvements could be made to streamline some processes.

On our apprenticeship we have a dedicated team which look after the 4 cohorts, this is extremely useful as if we every need support then we can go and speak to this team or if we never feel satisfied with the response we could take it to our apprenticeship owner. One thing element that could be improved would be a mentor, when joining the apprenticeship, we were assigned buddies which was generally someone in the year above which was extremely useful.

When working on our level 4 qualification, the support was always there. Our assessor use to be in the office every week (Unless on holiday) and we could book 1 hour time slots which was enough time to run through our competency units and get their view on how to improve them. If you could attend these, you could always email our assessor and they would respond within a day, this was extremely useful.

Our qualification was focused around the APM project management competencies, this was extremely useful as it gave us the a great insight to the project management world. By undertaking these competencies it gave everyone a solid foundation regarding the project fundamentals which all come in to play when delivering projects. As well as this, it also allowed us to converse with other project managers and understand what was being discussed.

At work we don't have sport teams, however I believe it is the wrong type of business to have these. However we have numerous professional networking events throughout the calendar year, these include such things as the Project Management Forum. I think it is great that apprentices are allowed to go to these as it allows us to network with the rest of the organisation.

Yes

I would recommend Sellafield Ltd to a friend as it a huge organisation to work for with great potential. Majority of managers what you to succeed and it is clear from my placement that if we are ever stuck then all we have to do is ask. Our business is transforming and its going to be an interesting couple of years ahead.

If any one asked me for advice, I would say be open and honest, research into the company so you know what we do and what our plans are going forward. As well as this, I would highly recommend taking a portfolio of evidence to interviews as it shows you competence and what you have already achieved.