Project Manager Higher Apprentice Review

I am a Associate Project Manager Apprentice. I have been in my role for less than 6 months So my experience is quite limited. I was originally meant to start with the Project Management Office team but was then assigned to an audit task because of a business need. At that point my daily tasks consisted of clicking links, renaming documents and reformatting PowerPoint presentations. I was working closely with my PMO mentor on this as she was also assigned to audit because it was quite urgent. The scope was very large and we were far behind target so there was a lot to do. I am now on to a new project as I have been assigned to new Line Manager who is also the Lead Project Manager on this so I am working with her on the rewording of letters sent out to customers in financial difficulty. I am preparing the pack for the Project Working Group, own the action log and risks and will even be leading the PWG meeting this week in my managers absence. I try to work as closely with her as possible but she works from home two days of the week.

I'm working to obtain my APMF and APMQ from the APM which is part of my apprenticeship. I try to attend as many training courses as possible because I am keen to learn and I'm worried I am not learning the necessary skills for my apprenticeship standard. I have learnt quite a bit of jargon and terminology used in the world of project management. I still fell like I'm behind my peers in terms of skills developed.

I do not enjoy my job at all. I have been close to quitting many times but I had to wok very hard to get this spot in the programme and I've always wanted to be a project manager so I'm hesitant to give up this opportunity. The majority of the work I do is menial, tedious and basic. It doesn't motivate me to get out of bed in the morning as I feel like I'm not making a difference other than to the people who gave me these tasks because they didn't want to do them themselves. I find it difficult to relate to the other teammates as well as the other apprentices. I don't have much in common with me and I worry they don't like me because I'm different. I also don't feel like the members of the team add much value to the company. They're not particularly intelligent or passionate about what they do. The company culture in our office is based mostly on coasting by. The programme has not met my expectations at all as I thought I would be working as a project manager

I don't feel valued at all by LBG. The fact they have hired me as a Band B whereas last years apprentices were hired as Band C. This is completely unjustified when you consider, in previous years, candidates who had a degree or other university qualification were not allowed to apply whereas I have a degree and I was competing for a place against other candidates with Master Degrees, MBA, etc. Also there were less people applying for the role whereas I had to beat over 3,000 people to get my job. Plus there were less apprenticeship spots available for me at this office but in previous years, they took on two apprentices. My line manager could do more to encourage me through recognizing my efforts. It's hard to feel motivated when I am the lowest ranking and worst paid member of the team and more qualified and experienced than some other team members. The tasks I am given have no weight or prestige associated with them. They're most admin jobs any person would be able to do but would rather not.

The induction was repetitive and quite generic. I felt I could have skipped it completely and I wouldn't have been impacted in any way. Some of my training courses have been the same. I didn't feel I learnt anything tangible or role specific. I prefer practical courses. I think the structure of the programme is mediocre and I would prefer if it was organized so the programme to finish sooner. to spend 2 years on this salary and at this grade is nonsensical. The prolonged programme schedule allows for too much time to be wasted when I would rather focus on getting my standard fulfilled and moving on to a real project management role. I am definitely at the bottom of the team hierarchy. Because of this I don't feel motivated to push myself to study. I just feel bad about my decision all the time.

My tutor is overworked as he has to travel all of the UK to work with 30 different apprentices so it is understandable that certain apprentices get left behind. His section of the induction was particularly unhelpful as he should have used this opportunity to show us the specific software we would need and how to use it.

Members of the team say they want to support me but nothing ever comes of it. There are a lot of empty promises. I feel like an outsider because I don't conform to their standards. My previous Line Manager was far too lax when it came achieving my goals. He seemed to resent my ambition and optimistic attitude. I'm happy my new line manager has said she wants to focus on me obtaining as many skills as possible needed to complete my apprenticeship but I have yet to see any progress being made.

My salary package is pitiful. It's unacceptable that there are other apprentices who joined with me that barely have an A Level qualification to their name and no career experience other than catering or retail work. People who have just finished school at 18 and are all together ignorant to the professional world of finance and banking where I have spent most of my career. I live in Brighton where the cost of living is creeping closer and closer to that of London but my wage is the same as people living in Halifax where they pay the same amount of rent for a 3 bedroom house as I would for a single room. There needs to be a territorial allowance for more areas than just London. And all apprentices should not be paid the same regardless of their qualifications and background.

There were a few events I have been invited to as I registered with the APM as well as with the group's LGBT network. I am looking forward to do volunteering hours outside of work and then claiming them back from Lloyds as well as using their matching scheme to get the most out of any money I've raised for an upcoming marathon walk I'm taking part of for charity. There are no leisure or sports clubs that I know of but I may just not be aware of them.

No

I would definitely recommend an apprenticeship programme to a friend just not necessarily at Lloyds. The recruitment process was far too long and complicated and I don't feel like I am being treated well. It might be specific to my office but the culture he is not at all inclusive or collaborative.

I would have like to been told in the initial job advert the breakdown of the apprenticeship programme as well as the salary and grade. I felt the application process was inefficient. The onboarding process was also flawed and I didn't receive my laptop until I had been in the role a few weeks so it was very limited what I could do. This was frustrating and didn't make a very good impression on me as a new starter.