Commercial Apprentice Review

My role involves: -managing the administration of contracts, such as the monthly payment which requires budget forecasting -Procurement of contracts - creating relevant document packs and sending them to the contractor for agreement. -Liaising with contractors on a regular basis to have risk reduction meetings and taking meeting minutes which includes any actions that need to be done.

I have learnt/developed many skills. For example, my communication skills have improved by working with different contractors and having to chair meetings on a regular basis. Also, my time management skills have improved as I have learnt to balance work, uni and home life. This is important because I am expected by my employer to keep up with my uni work and not fall behind. Furthermore, I have improved my written skills, by learning how to write effective emails.

I am enjoying my apprenticeship, I think it is good how I am able to work and learn at the same time because I am able to relate what I learn at uni to tasks in my day-to-day work. This has especially helped me because before starting the apprenticeship, I had no experience in the construction industry, therefore by being able to relate the theory to real life projects makes it much easier to understand the different processes.

Overall, my apprenticeship structure is good, however, at the beginning there were a few issues such as placements being too short. The placements have now been extended from 3 months to 6 months/1 year which allows us more time to learn about each team within the company. These issues were due to it being a new apprenticeship for the company.

My employer provides a good amount of support. For example, they provide us with 5 study days per year which allows us to take time off form our working day to study and revise for exams and assignments. They also give us mentors who are people within the office that help to guide us throughout our apprenticeship. This is useful s it gives us advice from experienced workers who know industry well.

My training provider (UWE) provides us with a good amount of support. They keep in contact with us on a regular basis by sending emails each week about what we need to study/read for the week to prepare us for the lectures. We also have tri-party review meetings which involves our line manager from work and a member of the UWE staff tutors who will review our progress and touch base with how we feel the UWE experience is going.

My qualification is in quantity surveying and commercial management. Therefore, I feel like it helps me to perform my role better because my job role is commercial management with elements of quantity surveying. Since learning about the subject at UWE, I have learnt the foundations of the construction industry such as how to provide quantities and measurements of a building to the project managers. This fits in with my role at work because I have to understand the process when working on the procurement of a contract.

There are a wide variety of extra curricular activities at work. For example, there is a "Young Persons Network" which organises events for people who are under the age of 25 within the business. Some of the events include bowling and Virtual Reality. There are also other social groups - I am part of the my current teams social event organisation, where we set up different activities throughout the year for the team to join.

Yes

I would recommend EDF to a friend because they have provided lots of support to me since doing them as an apprentice. They provide a wide variety of opportunities which help you to progress within the industry. For example, I have been given the opportunities to travel to Paris to visit factories to see where the materials and machinery is made. This allows me to understand the processes more easily.

I would say to research about the company and make sure you show an interest in wanting to learn new things, such as skills and knowledge. I would also say to always share your ideas with others regardless of how big or small they are. This will show EDF that you are able to problem solve and are not afraid to contribute your ideas.