Supply Chain Apprentice Review

My day to day consist of different project I have with the different parts of my matrix team. They can vary from creating reports and packaging jobs to reconciling goods and testing different processes we have and even trying to create some solutions myself. Due to the nature of half of my team being in the US, I spend most of the afternoon either in meetings or completing a task depending on what my workload is at that time. I spend my morning doing university work so it fits in with my 20% allocation of time to be spent purely on non-work related learning. I fill the rest of my time with responding to email both from internal team members or people external to the business.

I have learnt and developed many skills which allow me to be more productive and improve the way I work. General skills which help me in my work life are things like hosting and chairing meetings in both Skype and Microsfot Teams, sending emails to both internally and externally. In terms of my job role I have gained skills which allow me to work in every area of my matrix team. External to my job from my educational provider, I have learnt the basics of Supply chain and learnt academic writing. I have also learnt about behaviours to keep within a professional environment.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my 6 months so far and hope the rest of my time is the same. I really enjoy the company ethic and their main goals showing they want to act responsible about the environment. I really enjoy working with team although we are relatively small compared to other areas in the company, I feel I've built a good rapport with everyone. the overall experience has well exceeded my expectations.

The overall introduction of the programme has been positive and very well structured. My induction to the business was very well done with personal effectiveness workshops for the apprentices which help us develop personal skills before sticking us into our respective job roles. I have had training from many different people in regards to personal training, job training and educational training. As part of my program I receive 20% allocated for off the job training which after a discussion with your line manager, this can be done with one day a week, 2 half days or a few hours each day. Support wise is plenty as there are many different people I can discuss any issues with.

I receive a lot of support from my team and my line manager, they allocate me tasks to do and provide training so I can complete tasks in the future without any issue My mentor has helped me with many things which help me in my role but not relevant to my team. I have had guidance on all tasks ive worked on and have not found a time where I was struggling with something. I believe everyone enjoys helping me with things ensuring I ask when my team are not busy.

My overall experience from both my training provider has been positive with the teaching of the modules and feedback from all my assignments. I have access to a lot a support from tutors and mentors in my program. The attitude for teaching has been positive and this has reflecting on me having a better learning experience.

The qualification I am learning is supply chain leadership which fits into my job role which is clinical supply chain. I have recently done a presentation on how areas of my learning fit into our function and areas in which we can improve on. I feel at the end of my qualification I will be able to perform at my maximum ability.

In my 6 months of being at the company I have attended multiple team building days aswell as a Christmas party which was great since it included the whole company. I attend football on Mondays with member of my team and other people in different companies who work on the same site as me. When I am not working, I attend social event with the other first year apprentices so we have that social aspect of the apprenticeship and it isn't just work.

Yes

Whilst applying for different apprenticeships I got to learn different companies ethics and styles and I found AstraZeneca the most friendly whilst maintaining professionalism.

Have a good look around the buildings and what the companies aims are and see if they line with your beliefs .