Project Manager Review

I am currently working as a project manager - a permanent role I secured after competing the Future Leaders Graduate Program at British Airways. In my role, I am responsible for the delivery of projects, with my most recent assignment delivering major upgrades to the network infrastructure, phone systems, and call agent software.

The Degree Apprenticeship program has seen me complete a Masters Degree (Masters of Science) in Leadership and Management. Throughou the program, I have studied a range of different topics including strategy, finance, marketing, leadership, change management, innovation and more. These have been very useful skills to apply to my role

Whilst there have been very tough times, especially during the pandemic when I was placed on furlough for an extended length of time, I have mainly enjoyed my program. It has seen me work in a number of different areas across the business, as well as studying a masters degree

I joined on the Future Leaders Graduate Program, and am completing a degree apprenticeship on the side. The Future Leaders element is very well structured, and designed to give me broad experience across British Airways. The degree element is also well structured, and it is clear how the modules and assessments are laid out

My line manager has been very supportive throughout the program, and supports me to achieve the best in the work I do - both for the masters degree and in my day to day work. Where I am let down is the support given by the British Airways Apprenticeship team. The definining memory is when one of their managers announced our contract offer was going to be withdrawn - which was delivered in such a heartless way

This has been very poor. I was only asigned a supervisor for my bi-monthly progress reviews two years into the degree apprenticeship - and at this point I only had 6 months to go. Thankfully I do now have this, although progress meetings sometimes feel very tick box

Competiting a degree apprenticeship in Leadership and Management has been very relevant for my role. The skills and knowledge I have gained are broad, and I have also had the chance to focus on areas of particular interest for me. I am currently completing my final project on Agile Project Management, which is a great way to enhance my project management knowledge

This has been impacted by the pandemic, where social activities were not possible. There are plans to restart more social aspects. But, on the teams I have worked on, we make the effort to go for team lunches, post-work drinks, and had a team building session playing mini golf to celebrate the completion of our project

Yes

British Airways has been a great place to work. I have been offered a lot of unique experiences, such as flying as cabin crew, working on big projects, and experiencing a wide range of placements. I have grown quickly in my role, and have been promoted quickly. Additionally, staff travel...!

Focus on why you want to work for British Airways in particular, and what makes us different compared to our competitiors. Focus on what you can offer to British Airways (in terms of skills / attributes etc) , and what you hope you will gain from your chosen apprenticeship or graduate scheme