Commercial Undergraduate Apprentice Review

This apprenticeship involves moving round a number of different support functions, circulating every 4 months. Within each area, day-to-day tasks will be different, and often each day is completely different from the next. Generally though, days involve interacting with your surrounding team to develop a support network, as well as an understanding of jobs roles within each department. Tasks may involve supporting new or ongoing projects, or reviewing past ones. There may be support required on running day to day figures, or you may be given responsibility for a work package, or to present some of the team's work. Some days will involve getting out of the office onto the shop floor to see some manufacturing or to tour different areas of site.

One of the key benefits of this apprenticeship is the qualifications and skills gained with it. At the end of the apprenticeship, you will have an Honours degree in Applied Business Management, accredited by Swansea University, along with an NVQ, an ILM, and additional recognition such as PRINCE2. Internal training courses can vary, but usually involve basic aircraft and safety awareness courses, as well as some lean and competency courses. In addition to this, personal and professional skills are developed. You will gain a network of people both internally and externally to the business who can support you throughout your career. I have also learnt to communicate, debate and bargain with a range of business stakeholders, opening my eyes to the challenges of working in a large organisation. My confidence has developed through a number of opportunities to lead meetings, present to an audience and to stand beside a number of teams to talk about my work and my apprenticeship. Practically, the apprenticeship provides a number of opportunities to learn project management, IT and customer-facing skills.

The workload itself is steady, some days can be slow and some days may be fast-paced but, that's commonplace is most businesses. I have so far enjoyed working in the teams I've been with, and there's no doubt that people make the job better! Most people are especially helpful to apprentices, and are willing to answer any questions and offer support, and this is embedded in the company culture. Sometimes managers are extremely busy, but there's always someone available to assist or give you work. Before starting the programme, I had no idea what to expect but did expect to be under a lot more pressure than I am. In reality, most business areas are relaxed with apprentices and understand that you also have coursework and other workloads to do alongside activities within work.

The apprenticeship itself is well structured, with a set day for college/university study, and the rest of the week spent in the business area placement. Support is provided and readily available from the college, the Early Careers team and from colleagues in business areas. There is a mentor system set up within the college, with a mentor assigned upon joining, and there is also a mentor system within work if you choose to join which I would recommend as they can help you to steer your chosen career direction. The college itself has had some teething problems with the programme being only a couple of years old, but they are making improvements. Most of the business areas have also had apprentices coming through for years so are generally well structured and supportive, however, some are less experienced and so you may have to request more work when necessary, and early careers managers are always happy to step in too.

My employer is extremely supportive, whether that may be the early careers teams and managers, line managers in business areas or surrounding teams. For the majority of the time, support is always readily available and the general attitude is that people are always happy to support the next generation, with many employees being ex-apprentices themselves. Sometimes request and questions to early careers can be a little slow but I appreciate they have hundreds of apprentices to manage, and so the best thing is to pick up the phone or visit their office.

The college are very supportive, and easily contactable at any time, even if it's not a college day. If necessary, they are happy to also contact Swansea in order to answer any queries or to clarify parts of assessment. Lecturers are very thorough, and no doubt provide far more support on an individual basis then you would receive on a normal university course. The option to have a 1-1 session is always available if you need it. As we spend a whole day in a classroom, as opposed to split sessions in typical university, lecturers do try their best to make the sessions interactive but there's no doubt that the day is long. Generally though, being surrounded by fellow apprentices makes the day more enjoyable, and the content provided by the college is really good and useful. Any additional sessions and support requested by students are also considered by the college, and provided when possible, such as guest speakers.

I am often able to put my degree studies into context within the workplace, dependent on business area, and the degree does touch a lot of the areas. Most of the apprentices on our course are from Airbus, but we do have students from other companies. Open discussions within class allow a greater understanding of applicability not only within my own workplace, but externally too. There have been numerous occasions where I have been able to apply my academic knowledge to the workplace, and vise versa. Admittedly though, much of what we learn is based on theories, which can sometimes be unrealistic to apply in the workplace, whether that be the nature of the theory, or the nature of the industry. With the NVQ qualification being one that is work-based, it provides and excellent structure for hitting key skills within work that can be applied in any area.

There are a number of social and sports activities to get involved in, and the whole apprentice group also have a social forum in place known as GenA. As I live locally, I don't tend to get involved with extra-curricular activities as I don't have much time with non-work related activities already in my schedule. However, the group is really good for those who have moved from a distance to get involved in extra activities and to get to know fellow colleagues and apprentices. There's often charity football matches and different trips arranged by the group. Our apprentice group itself also arranges social outings, as we spend a lot of time together and get along really well. During every apprenticeship, at the end of the first year there is the opportunity to go on an 'Outward Bound' trip to the Lake District, which is a great opportunity to network with different apprentice groups which you might not normally see, and to do activities to take you out of your comfort zone. This is one of my best memories of my apprenticeship so far. There is also an on-site gym, which is quite small, but there is a new gym and social club under construction. Classes are also available here. The early careers team also offer apprentices to get involved in a number of activities to support them, whether that be helping primary school children learn to read, advertising apprenticeships in school or representing the company in different challenges. These are really good opportunities to get out and help in the community.

Yes

I would recommend the company because the apprenticeship is a really good way to start learning and working, whilst getting a degree and other qualifications. The company itself also provides numerous opportunities after your apprenticeship to follow a range of different career paths, in countries all over the world. I am so glad I chose the apprenticeship rather than going to university to study, or elsewhere.

If you're considering applying to Airbus, I would attend the Open Day that occurs every year in about September/October time, to speak to real employees and current apprentices and see if it's for you. You'll also need to decide on which apprenticeship to choose, with information available online. When applications open, spend time on writing your application but try to get it in fairly early, don't leave it until the day before applications close, as applicant positions may have already been filled. Hopefully you'll be invited to an assessment day, which isn't as nerve-wracking as it seems! Just make sure you arrive on time, present yourself well, and have researched some background knowledge of the company and the apprenticeship itself.