Commercial Apprentice Review

I am working in a customer management role within the sales funciton. I manage the monthly business planning process for my category and customer - this involves forecasting, identifying risks and opportunites and keeping key internal stakeholders up to date with my customer's performance. I work closely with my team to drive overall performance within our customer. I'm in regular contact with the buying team externally within the customer as well as their supply chain colleagues to ensure launches, stock issues, events etc. are managed effectively.

I've learnt and developed countless skills throughout my apprenticeship but within my current role specifically I have developed lots of people skills. This includes networking and stakeholder management skills in order to effectively keep stakeholders informed and gain their support for initiatives I want to implement. I've learnt business management skills, such as forecasting and monitoring, evaluating and reacting to customer performance. I've gained lots of confidence influencing and negotiating internally and I am working on implementing these skills externally with the customer.

I absolutely love my current role and all the roles I have worked in throughout the apprenticeship. I am given a good amount of responsibility and autonomy - I feel as though I really add value to the business. However, with this responsibility there can be days where I feel pressured or stressed. Balancing work with a degree can also be stressful. All my managers and teams have been very mindful of this and enabled me to take the time I need to complete university work but it can still be overwhelming. The good days do outnumber the bad though and I feel as though the hard work is worth it to get the results.

Organisation hasn't caused any major issues for me throughout my apprenticeship but there are definitely areas for improvement. The nature of the scheme and moving between different functions can mean there is a lack of continuity, especially over the first two years. Historically, the Academy team haven't been very visibile or available throughout the scheme although this has definitely improved over recent months. University on the whole is well organised and we get visibility of the full year's teaching blocks ahead of the academic year. I've never had any issues with timeliness of responses, feedback or grades from lecturers.

I feel extremely well supported by my manager and my team. They are always available to answer any questions or offer feedback. I feel I can be open with them when my workload or stress levels are high and I am encouraged to take the necessary time to complete my uni/apprenticeship work. The continuous pastoral and development support from the Academy team could be more consistent throughout the apprenticeship but as with the organisation piece this has definitely stepped on in recent months.

Prior to covid-19, we had regular face-to-face teaching blocks at Sheffield Hallam and I really enjoyed these weeks. Lecturers work hard to cover all the content within the week and are always willing to answer any questions. I have felt less supported since learning has moved online but I feel this is down to my personal learning preferences rather than the lecturers. I have been able to get extensions on deadlines whenever I've needed them due to work or personal reasons, especially since distance learning. We also have access to all the same resources as full-time students including study skills sessions and pastoral support.

I have learnt so much more from my role than university in all honesty. If anything, my experiences at work help me to perform better in my qualification! However, I think this is a testament to the quality of the roles and learning opportunities internally at Nestlé and there is still a clear link between my job role and the modules studied so it's not as though the content is completely irrelevant. I also appreciate the value my degree will hold should I choose to persue opportunities outside of Nestlé.

There are gyms at the office sites which are free for employees to use, including classes (pre-covid). There are also lots of non-role related workstreams to get involved in, including the LGBTQ+ network, Eradicating Racism network, People Development Champions, Mental Health First Aiders... Teams also tend to organise social activities as well.

Yes

The working environment and support from colleagues is great. There are lots of development opportunities, both role related and non-role related. I feel like I am a valued member of the team and that my work leads to tangible, beneficial results. I am given a good amount of responsibility and autonomy but also offered the necessary support.

Be yourself - there is not a tick box that Nestlé are looking for in a person, they want to know what you as an individual can bring to the role. Spend some time getting to know yourself, what your strengths and development areas are and what you enjoy and value.