Project Manager Trainee Apprentice Review

On my role as a project manager trainee apprentice my day to day role started in Project Management Office. This is essentially overlooking the multi million pound programme and ensuring all projects inside of the programme were on track, in budget and have the correct resources. As an apprentice it is a good place to start as you oversee the ins and outs of being a project manager. However it is very adim based and extremely boring and repetitive at times.

I have definitely learned vital skills which will stay with me throughout my career. As this role is extremely reliant on PowerPoint and Excel you quickly learn on the job a broad range of skills on these systems. Also everyone around you on your team is very supportive on giving advise on key areas to learn in your spare time so you can add value in the future. Also in general I have gained great networking and communications skills.

Personally its not for me. Going into the role I saw Lloyds Banking Group and straight away thought 'Financial sector' 'Banking Role' Etc without giving any great thought into what project management actually entails. I understand this has a large responsibility on me to look into but Lloyds never even think to explain to their apprentices what it really is until the induction, with people sitting in the induction asking everyone else if they even know what it is. This causes a lot of uncertainty in the role and sure enough plenty of people becoming unhappy and leaving. I would say project management isn't a very exciting/creating role and consists of plenty of admin work, however if you are a very organised person who likes to manage a team and doesn't mind sitting at a desk all day, it may be for you. If you are unsure what project management is, look it up and don't proceed if you are unsure.

This is a 50/50 for me. On a positive note, I couldn't have wished for a better line manager and support team (including my buddy). You will definitely feel welcomed by you business area team and any little problem you have your line manager, or someone, will be there to help. They are very understanding of your position being completely new to PM and so give you as much/little work as you ask for and as much/little responsibility as you ask for. However on the other side there are definitely some big egos in LBG, and some of them helped me understand where a 'banker' got their name from. Some people will look down on you, not understand/care about your development and apprenticeship and get carried away they are working for a high profile bank. I do think that this came from the fact I was on a multi million pound project I was on.

The year I started (2017) Lloyds had just employed a new provider for the apprenticeship. They promised great things 'the best ever' and 'this will win awards'. None of this was true, it was organised chaos. There was never a clear structure to how to complete the qualifications regarding where to upload evidence/what evidence to upload. I hope this will get better though as it was their first year and I think there was a structure but it wasn't communicated very well.

They are defiantly always on the other side of a phone call or email but this never meant you would get a clear and simple answer. Usually when I was confused I would ask a list of questions and receive answers which confused me even more. The only reason I didn't worry about this was due to the fact no one else knew what was going on but looking back I think that made the situation worse.

I would defiantly rate this highly. As I have said before my line manager was Supportive, caring and would always have time for me. This is the same as my buddy/mentor, always asking if I needed help and making sure I was happy. Also certain people around you and in your project are very willing to help and teach you skills.

For me out of all the apprentices I believe I was travelling the most to get to work. It took me around 1.5 hours to get to work by train with the train costing around 1/4 of my salary. So it covered it well.

This is fairly mixed as well. As its such a huge organisation I think social activities lack. You become very close with a few other apprentices which is good but if you don't work with them you only see them about 3 times a year. For networking though in PM I think there are plenty of days you can get involved in and meet very useful people.

Yes

I would recommend the company but not the role. The company is great, you get agile working rights, so its very flexible to you, and the majority of people are very supportive. Also the chance for development is great and the opportunity for promotions is very well represented.

100% check the role out before you apply. I completely misunderstood what the role would consist of and so now am in a difficult situation. Also if you don't understand the role/are unsure what you want to do, don't apply. Its a very niche qualification and role and there are plenty other Higher Apprenticeships out there which are either broader or offer a 360 degree view of the business. However, if you know you want to go into project management i cant see a better option than this.