F&F Enspire - Fashion Buying Admin Assistant Apprentice Review

I am on the F&F Enspire Scheme. It involves doing a 1 month Tesco store placement when you start the apprenticeship. After that, you are based in the F&F Head Office and spend 1 year as a Buying Admin Assistant and 1 year as a Merchandising Admin Assistant. Then in your final year you will pick the role you want to pursue and work in that. Alongside this, for 2 years, you will attend the Fashion Retail Academy in London doing a foundation degree in either Fashion Buying and Range Planning or Fashion Merchandising and Range Planning. I am 6 months into my programme and have been working as a Buying Admin Assistant. Daily roles include monitoring approvals, managing samples, setting up for meetings, emailing and calling suppliers, attending fit sessions and on Monday's, monitoring the trade performance of the range. It is a challenging job, it is not 9-5, you will come in early and stay late as and when the job demands it. Some of the work is mundane, but a lot of it is fast paced and will very day to day which makes your day go much faster. My favourite part of the programme is attending college, I love learning so much about fashion and retail as a whole, whilst gaining really specific skills and knowledge that you do not learn day to day. I interact with my buying manager, assistants and the other BA on a daily basis. You will also work really closely with the merchandising side of your team. The floor is always buzzing and you will get to know all of the department you work on fairly quickly.

I have learnt the fundamentals of fashion buying, including how important commercial decisions are made. Tesco do offer great training courses but they are often booked up very quickly and your team may not be able to let you go if it is busy. I will gain a L4 qualification in Fashion Buying & Merchandising.

I do enjoy my programme. But moving away from home has been very challenging and you will work long hours. Everyone is friendly but it is very apparent that you are in a junior position and you will work very hard for not much recognition. You will definitely get on with some people more than others. But if you work hard and treat everyone how you want to be treated then doors will open up for you, it just takes a while.

Your manager will appreciate you. But as a whole, the business do overlook you as you are in the entry level position. You will need to drive your own development and push to be involved in more tasks and projects, but persistence will pay off.

It is very well organised. But I think there should be more fluidity in terms of being able to ask for experience in some other areas, or if you think it is best for you, to move to another department or team. College work is hard and you will get a lot. So you need to plan your time and start assignments as soon as you receive them, otherwise you will feel pressured. You get 5 study days a year, so it's best to plan these in advance. A lot of tasks are delegated to you, it is a part of the job role. I didn't realise that this would happen so much. But you need to be prepared to do all of the running around and preparation for your team.

If you need support, they are very willing to help. I would advise going to the Tesco Early Careers team over the F&F HR team. They are much more willing to support you and spend the time making sure you are happy and give you guidance.

If you need support, you can ask for it. But it will not be recognised unless you do. Managers are considerate and will help you with any issues, but it does feel tricky to go the your team or the HR team about any work issues you are having. It often does not stay confidential.

The salary is £20,000/year. Tesco pay you 4 weekly, so you will receive about £1,300 every 4 weeks. I moved away from home so I have to pay for petrol, rent, bills, food and other normal expenditure and I still have money left. London is expensive, so social activities do cost more and you won't be able to live a lavish lifestyle on this salary. But I am able to live normally and save some money each month.

The Early Careers team try to put on events outside of work, but they are very Tesco orientated and you do feel the minority as an F&F apprentice. However they are very welcoming. Tesco and F&F as a whole does not put on many events. Your work life balance will alter, before I used to meet up with friends for drinks/a meal, the gym, or in summer the beach. But when you are working long hours (and if you move away from home. You have a lot less time to do these things and will be very tired from work. But if you make the time then you will be able to keep up what you want to.

Yes

The apprenticeship as a whole is good, you will have to be very dedicated to fashion and the job because of how much it demands from you. I would recommend this programme to someone who lives here, or has moved out before and were not phased by it. As it is a big commitment and it is hard to meet friends as you are often working so much.

Be relaxed for the assessment day, it comes across when you are feeling nervous. Work hard on your 3D CV and try to know the presentation off by heart. If you have had a job before then note down any testing experiences you have had, because often you will be asked to refer to 'a time when' and if I had never worked before I would have found these tricky to answer. I applied for this job rather blindly. I did not realise how demanding and time consuming it would be. It becomes your life. The job has more admin than I realised and you are very much at the bottom of the food chain. But the experience is invaluable! And no matter what company you start at or what qualifications you start with, you will always be an admin assistant at first. If love fashion and have family and friends around, it will be much better for you. I think if you are unhappy or working with someone difficult then you need to speak up as soon as you can, as often things will be brushed under the carpet. If you are moving away from home, make the effort to find social events, use the Tesco training days and induction days to make contacts. And enjoy college because it is a nice break in your week, and all of the extra information and assignments will only help you and make you more qualified.