Finance Analyst Review

On a day to day basis i look after the No7 team helping to support them with targets and sales figures. I also help to build the budgets for new stores and strip out budgets for closing stores. I send out weekly/daily reports to help people understand their numbers and help them understand where they can improve. As Stores Finance our man aim is to support the stores the best we can, helping them with any queries that they may have. I lso help out with some projects such as monthly packs and work inspiration week.

I have learnt a lot of new skills whilst doing thsi job, most of them without realising. Going into a job you have to learn how to be independent quickly and be confident when talking to colleagues. I have to work with excel a lot of the time which is something i havent done before, i recieved training for this and can now use it to produce analitical data. At Boots you communicate with people of all levels, this is a great way to build up your confidence and your professional behaviour. I am also doing my college work alongside my work, to do this you have to learn how to get the right balance between the two. Makign sure that you keep on top of all work is the key to doing this well.

Coming into the workplace i didnt know what to expect, i have had times where I worried about the workload that I had however you learn different ways that you can deal with it well. On Thursdays we have college, all of the apprentices get on very well and so the learning is always a great environment. My team are great, everybody supports eachother and nobody is every left to struggle on their own. I am definitely enjoying my experience so far.

Boots want to amke all of their staff feel valued. Some people around the company dont have a large understanding about apprentices and what we do and so can sometimes be reluctant to turn to us. However, you will find that most people want to give you a chance. Everybody I have worked with has treated me like any other colleague and is very supportive of the scheme. Boots also provide a lot of advantages of working for the company such as the chance to buy extra holidays, cheaper cinema tickets, discount etc.

The programme is very well structures, we recieve a college lecture every Thursday morning. After this we get a few hours to work on our assignments that have been set, giving us time to ask any questions that we may have. We have training days where all of the apprentices go together to learn some important values or skills. These are great for building up our relationships as ell as teaching us something new. We have a high level of suport around us if needed but are left to be independent for most of the time. This means that we can recieve help when we personally need it.

Our training provider is there on Thursday morning to help us with any questions we may have. She also provides us with one-to-one meetings to discuss our progress and see how we are doing. Our assignments get uploaded onto One File where she monitors our work and helps us to know where we can improve.

My Manager is very supportive and thinks highly of the apprenticeship scheme. He has a very wide knowledge of the business and so is somebody that can help with many queries. He tries to stretch me in my role whilst making sure that i am not overloaded with work or struggling. Weekly one-to-ones are inplace with my mnager, here we can talk about how i am doing in my role, how i am managing my work load with college and how i am feeling in general.

Apprenticeship wages can be very low and so the wage we revcieve is extremely good. I live near by and so my commute to work doesnt cost me a lot however other apprentices have a much onger commute. I am able to easily live on my wage however i live at home with my parents and so dont have a lot of outgoing costs. Having your own house on this wage could be a struggle however for an apprentice it is definitely at the top end and the oppertunities after are endless!

There are alwasy differet events taking place that you can be a part of. My team try to do activities outside of work often, netball is one of the sports that they do on a regular basis. Boots also take part in a lot of events that their staff can join, they support the macmillan event which they highly encourage employees to get involved with. They have just released being part of the Corporate Games and are promoting being a part of it!

Yes

Boots is a highly successful company that thrives on their great customer service and giving back to the community. They are always encouraging a positive attitude towards work and are constantly looking for something new that they can do to help people. Hard work and dedication is widely recognised and praised. In Finance we give quartly awards to people that have made a real impact on people and the company. We also have a success story in a newsletter every week where we recognise something great that an employee has achieved in stores and how they have helped somebody.

Boots are looking for somebody that is interested in the company and the history behind it. They like people to recognise the small company that they started out as, and notice that their objectives are the same. You ahve to stay confident throughout the interview and assessment process. At the assessment cdays don't play to who you think that they want to see, the different activities show different strenghts and they are not looking for somebody who is perfect! Any examples of where you have achieved something, overcome a challenge or helped somebody is great to give. Most of all, just be yourself. Everybody at Boots is very different but that is what makes up a good team.