Finance Apprentice Review

I work in finance within a team called the finance excellence team, on a day to day basis I help out with running the budgeting system and other advertising and promotions roles as well as working a lot on gross margin. I work closely with all of brand building finance.

I have learnt so much since I have started my apprenticeship,my knowledge on finance before I joined was limited and I now understand it a lot better. I have very good knowledge and skills using excel which I did not have before. My people skill shave improved dramatically as well as my organisation and time management.

My programme is very good and I enjoy my job a lot. The only complaint I have about this apprenticeship is that the coursework is a little un-organised. I feel I do not get enough support and when I ask for support I get a template answer which is not very personal or helpful. Unilever do not run the coursework themselves and outsource it to another company and I feel they really let the whole apprenticeship down by making it not a 10 star course.

My line manager makes me feel very valued and so does the apprenticeship co-ordinator. I feel this is very valued within such a large company as you cannot expect everyone to make you feel valued as they do not have time as people interact with so many people. However I will get comments from senior employees saying I am doing a good job which does make me feel valued.

My job is very well organised and I have a set plan laid out of what my job involves and how I will progress, however this is down to my line manager and it was not required for her to have set up this plan so I am fortunate that she did as I know other apprentices did not have this. The induction week of our apprenticeship was well organised but after that there is no real contact with the apprenticeship co-ordinator and if we have an issue it takes a while to deal with it. You rely only on your line manager so if there is a problem with them you have little support. The coursework side to the scheme is poorly organised. If the qualification side of this apprenticeship was better then I would give 10 stars.

the training provider is very poorly organised, we are not given much support and when we ask for it we get a template answer which is not specific to us. The company Unilever use seem very un-organised and do things such as say we will have training days and then continue to say it will happen at a later date for 9 months. I feel it is so poor that it really ruins the apprenticeship and the great opportunities as it means we have to work a lot harder to find resources to help us with our coursework.

From my line manager I receive all the support I need and she is constantly checking if I need more support, she keeps up to date with my progress on the coursework and helps me plan how I will develop my skills and work towards getting permanent job at the end.

The salary is very good for an apprenticeship, I have no travel costs as I live within walking distance, however if I was paying for rent and travel, I would not be able to afford to do so.

Unilever offers a wide range of opportunities, including meeting a lot of people.

Yes

Unilever offers great opportunities and gives you a great experience working in a worldwide company. As long as you are hard working and willing to learn and be pro-active Unilever can help kick start your career.

Make sure you are willing to put all the work and time in yourself for the coursework as you will not get much support, be honest with your application and don't be shy to speak about your achievements and talents in the application. If you get to the assessment day be confident and cheery as this is what Unilever likes.