National Projects Administrator Review

My job role is National Projects Administrator within the Membership function at the Co-operative Group. Daily tasks include all general administrative work for the National Projects Team as well as project support on the many projects we undertake. Just recently I have began managing my own project, taking on more responsibility which I really enjoy. My job role is split; 50% admin/support for NPTeam as well as managing the accounts for the Co-operative's National Membership Team (consisting of 4 sub-teams) working to tight deadlines and managing relationships with budget holders and our Coporate Accounts team. My team run and manage the Co-operative Academies Programme so I have a lot of interactions with our Academies and their staff, as well as Academy Governors and Principals.

Since starting for the Co-operative Group I have gained a Level 2 in Business & Administration and I've just recently completed my Level 3. In addition to this, I have gained an array of skills from being in the workplace, too many to list actually. I think the actual Apprenticeship could be more challenging as I don't feel I've been stretched much from doing the qualification.

I love my team and the work we do, the culture of the Co-operative Group was briliant when I first started but given the current circumstances it has took a turn for the worst, however I am confident this will improve as the business begins to revive itself.

My manager and the wider team definitely make me feel valued, they are great at giving feedback and helping me to grow as an employee. I am constantly being given more stretching work to help me progress and for this I am extremely grateful.

I had an induction and always have the support of our Apprenticeship Team Lloyd, Alys, Simon and Tim. They've been fantastic throughout my Level 2 and Level 3, I couldn't have asked for a better support network. They brought all apprentices together to network so we had friends and support that way too.

I wasn't overly impressed with my training provider initially, having had the same assessor from Level 2 into my Level 3. My assessor then left 3/4 of the way through my Level 3 and when a replacement came I realised how poor my previous assessor was in that we had barely covered much work. I found myself having to chase her up a lot and she had a habit of being late for our meetings. My new assessor however was absolutely fantastic, we covered so much work over such a short space of time and I really felt I gained something out of our meetings.

My employer has been overwhelmingly supportive, I have been allowed to take time out of my daily role to complete work for my Apprenticeship, something which I know isn't always the case as I have friends who are on similar NVQ's at other organisations and they have to do work at home.

Whilst undergoing my NVQ my salary wasn't great, it did increase as I gained my Level 2 qualification however the Co-operative Group, like a lot of organisations, needs to take into account the cost of living when negotiating salaries.

Yes there are lots.

Yes

It's a great place to work, though I wouldn't recommend it at present (given the amount of trouble happening within it).

Do your research on the Group, if you don't believe in the society and what it stands for then don't bother applying.