IT Apprentice Review

My roles include being a Programme Office Manager's Assistant and a Project Manager's Assistant. My daily tasks involve managing the finances for a multi-million pound programme, updating documentation around the programme's financial status, risk status etc., assisting a project manger in some of the tasks that they do, such as helping to fill out "Gate" slide deck's which will be presented to the sponsor board to progress the project forward, and currently I am in charge of creating the proposal to get a touch screen installed in the office which will have a "who's who" on it (designed for new starters to find out the names, job roles and what different people look like in Research & Development IT).

I have attended an external training course in Project management and have certification that I qualified the APM Introductory Certificate. The apprenticeship is working towards a qualification so this is what is happening internally. I have developed good personal and professional skills such as I feel I have developed my confidence, and have developed how to format emails in a professional manner. I have learnt a lot about the way that any job works, and also then more specifically about the way that IT works and the many different processes that happen within it.

I enjoy the work I am receiving as most of it is down to my choice. The team I work with are great. They help me to feel involved within tasks and treat me as an equal, and are very enthusiastic about getting me involved in many different tasks. The company culture at GSK is fantastic. Everyone is very positive and very kind. This is one of GSK's greatest strengths.

As mentioned above, I believe that most people are willing to get me involved with tasks, so people value me. There are occasions where people have not had time to teach me things so I couldn't get involved, but I will get other opportunities.

The induction process is very organised. There is a procedure in place so that it is easy for any new employees to get introduced to the key things. The training is taken very seriously and so is very structured. Overall, task delegation, meetings and the way GSK works is very organised, and this is how I like to work. there is freedom in certain areas where required as well.

My Tutor has a review with me on my progress monthly. They also provide good feedback on the units that I submit. I believe that as an apprenticeship in general that it could include more college style courses to be able to learn some knowledge which you may not be able to learn "on the job".

My Manager is very supportive to me, and works very hard to get me involved in many different tasks and help me out if I have any issues. The team I work within also have this attitude, so I feel confident to ask people for help and support if I need it.

As I live at home, I pay my parents rent, but this isn't too much of my wage. For me, the starting wage is enough for me to live on, but we get wage reviews every 6 months, and a yearly bonus, so for me the wage is good. If I was to rent a flat on my own for example, the wage would not be enough, but I am not in that circumstance.

There are lots of different opportunities outside of work. I haven't got involved in many of these currently so I cannot fully comment on this, but I am looking into gaining a further involvement in these opportunities.

Yes

It is a fantastic company with a great community. GSK allows you to explore the routes that you would like to go down, so for me I wanted to get involved in IT, but wasn't 100% sure on what I wanted to do within IT. I applied for the IT apprenticeship, and so from there I could choose what I wanted to work on.

I wold recommended researching into GSK before the assessment day. Also I would recommend that you prepare as much as you can based on the detail given to you. As well as this, just be yourself, and don't give up. When I applied, I didn't get accepted from the assessment day, but I heard that they had opened a few more spaces for roles, so I applied again and got the job! Having the attitude of not giving up meant that I got the job, and so I would say that it is very important to have that mind set.