Business admin apprentice Review

I work in the customer services department. I deal with the invoicing area of customer services so I don’t talk to customers. I deal with the queries that customers give to account managers and i credit and reinvoice them to how they need. The rest of my team deals with returns and trying to get money back from our distributors

I have developed my people skills and team work skills. I have also developed my organisational skills by balancing my apprenticeship work and my day to day work. I learned how to use excel and how to manage my emails effectively. I have also got very good with time management

I really enjoy my apprenticeship for many reasons. One reason being the support i have received. I have an apprentice manager who is my team leader, a mentor who is somebody else on my team, the early career learning and development apprentice manager and my external development coach from the provider. This has really helped me stay on top of my work and i always have people to go to when i am struggling. I think it is hard to find this level of support anywhere else and i especially didn’t have that much support in school.

It is very well structured and and organised. We have dedicated days away from our teams to work with other apprentices which helps a lot with the apprenticeship work. We also have 20% of our week (which is one day a week) dedicated to our apprenticeship work, so our team and team leaders are very supportive of it.

I have many different people to go to if i am struggling. The way Softcat has structured this apprenticeship means we have the full support from everyone. I feel very comfortable and trust my colleagues who are very encouraging and supportive of everything i have done so far in my career.

I have a development coach who comes in for one to one sessions. In these sessions, we go through anything i am struggling with coursework wise and i find these sessions very beneficial. She also collaborates with my apprentice manager and it is great that they both support me and each other.

My qualification from my training provider (remit) helps me perform better in my role by helping me understand the wider business and how it works. It also helps me think outside the box in thinking of ways to change processes to help out my team. Remit is a great provider

There are many extra-curricular activities at Softcat. For example, there is a football team, poker nights, competitions, charity walks, holidays and so much more. There is also lots of fun days in the office such as bring your dog to work day, pyjama day, lots of charity days and incentives

Yes

It has a great culture and working environment. There is also flexible working hours which is very beneficial for many people. A good holiday allowance, events and incentives are also good reasons to want to work here. I genuinely love coming into work everyday and i am very happy here.

The tips i would give to others applying to Softcat would definitely be to do your research as they love people with a genuine interest in the company. I would also say to be yourself because they like authenticity. Also, try to think about what you can bring to the comnpany.