Commercial Apprentice Review

My job title is commercial apprentice, from the time I started I have taken part in many different projects, currently it is assisting with the update of the procurement manual. Previously I have had the responsibilities of managing contracts, measuring mock-up drawings, updating and creating new manuals. In general my day to day duties are to assist the management with their activities.

During this apprenticeship I will be gaining a HNC and HND in construction and the built environment at Bridgwater and Taunton college after this I will be gaining a degree in quantity surveying. EDF Energy provides free French tuition which gives me an opportunity to build off my current AS level in French.

This apprenticeship has been a great opportunity and I would highly recommend it. I enjoy the workplace environment as it is nice and modern and clean. As I change teams I have the opportunity to meet new people within the office. This apprenticeship exceeded my expectations in terms of how we are treated and the opportunities for development within the company.

With EDF Energy, despite the size all employees are not only welcoming but are excited about the apprenticeship programme due to the change of dynamics apprentices bring to the workplace. Although we rotate departments I get the chance to work with many others from different departments, locations and even companies. EDF Energy constantly invite the apprentices to events whereby we get the chance to meet ministers of energy, the CEO of EDF energy, universities and more.

As this is the first year of the programme being introduced much of the problems encountered are new, meaning there have been a few issues in terms of the work loads and balancing work with college. There is a clear hierarchy within the organisation which makes it good in terms of a chain of command, so now apprentices are aware of who to go to.

Currently we attend our college in 2 week block periods, this allows for our tutor to mentor and help us closely. Not only is our training provider more than willing to stay longer hours during this block he makes weekly visits to the office to ensure we understand our current assignments and other workloads. I have enjoyed doing college in this format as we can concentrate fully on our college work and then resume work duties once this block period is over.

When we started all the apprentices were new to this apprenticeship meaning there was a chance we would encounter struggles during our apprenticeship. EDF Energy identified this as a potential problem and this led to the organisational re-structuring to provide apprentices with individual mentors, a shared line manager to represent all the apprentices along with our department managers. This means if anyone was to encounter a particular issue we have many possible routes to solve the issue. For example a mentor's duty is to ensure as an apprentice we are settled in our current work department and college.

Despite the legal salary requirement for apprentices being substantially low, EDF energy pays us well above the minimum. As the company understood many of us would face costs such as rent and travel expenses, apprentices received an additional sum to help with these costs, this allows our monthly wage to not only provide a suitable living cost but also allows us to enjoy our spare time more. However being based in Bristol accomodation costs are much higher meaning on our current wage it is affordable to rent only a room in the centre but this has allowed those who have moved to make new friends.

There are many events external to EDF Energy, as our employers they allow us to attend these events in order to broaden our social capital along with our skills. There are many events taking place outside of work such as charity runs and bike rides, music events along with sports groups which we can join through EDF. For example I have recently joint a gym near to the workplace

Yes

Personally I found myself unsure of university, having a 'uni experience' was the main reason I found myself attending. However once starting uni i found there was a lack of support in terms of direction and this led me to feel demotivated. Through doing this apprenticeship i have not only managed to make many more friends from a variety of backgrounds like in uni but the fact i can earn, get a degree and have a job at the end of this apprenticeship makes it a much better option to uni.

When applying for the apprenticeship be honest and be yourself, i found the strongest candidates weren't necessarily the smartest or the most confident. Despite the assessment days being so thorough, having behavioural experts means being the most honest in the interview and activities works the best. If you are stuck between doing uni or an apprenticeship i would follow with the apprenticeship as unlike uni changing your mind down the road does not set you back in terms of finance and work experience as you start gaining work experience from day 1.