Apprentice Project Manager Review

Assisting with day to day project tasks such as updating weekly progress reports, reviewing and updating project schedules, producing periodic project reports which involves looking at budgets, costs, resources, risks and milestones. I regularly attend meetings with key stakeholders and contractors. I also get involved in assurance reviews such as stage gate reviews which happen along the lifecycle of a project. I usually prepare and produce the documentation for this and make sure the necessary documents get signed off by the relevant stakeholders.

I have learned and developed a lot of skills such as stakeholder management, project planning, risk management and controlling budgets and costs. I have also gained a lot of confidence as I've lead on my own meetings and carried out my own assurance reviews. I have also learned to adapt to new environments as I have been able to move around the business.

I have enjoyed my programme thoroughly as it has provided me with the skills I require to excel in my career. I have also been able to network with many different people in different roles as I have changed placements 4 times. The programme that I'm on also means that every day is different and I enjoy coming into work for that reason.

As there were many people on my programme compared to previous years it wasn't as organised and structured as well as it could have been. Placements would sometimes be rotated late due to the large amount of apprentices on the scheme, which meant you were in the same place longer than expected. The training provider was also unorganised.

I received a large amount of support from my employer, this included my line manager and my placement manager. If there were any HR queries, HR were also always available to support. I also received support from my buddy who was in the year above me in his apprenticeship programme.

The training provider wasn't very supportive as they were always very unresponsive and unprofessional. Emails would rarely get replied to and phone calls were rarely answered. Meeting would always get scheduled in however sometimes nobody would turn up. The skills coaches could sometimes be unprofessional and rude, they would also give you the incorrect information.

I feel as if the qualification I gained through the training provider has helped me a lot in my day to day role as it has provided me with the fundamentals of project management. The principles and processes are a lot easier to understand when carrying out my duties and role.

TfL is a huge organisation so there are plenty of opportunities to get involved with extra-curricular activities such as football matches, movie nights, religious get togethers, apprentice and graduate networking events, mental health awareness events, women in engineering events, after work team drinks, Christmas parties, wellbeing events, yoga, running clubs, etc.

Yes

Transport for London is a huge organisation with endless opportunities, there are many different career paths which can be suited to anyone and you always have the opportunity to explore these careers if you wish to do so. There are always networking events to expand your network and meet new people.

I would advise others to just be themselves! However I think you need to research Transport for London before applying and grasp an understanding of their ethos and morals. I also think it's worth researching the mayors transport strategy as this will explain what TfL is currently working towards.