Apprentice Business Manager Review

I am a junior business manager. This means supporting the various desks within Financing and Risk solutions as well as managing the reimbursables process. My work is very varied, ranging from organising training for the business to producing MI for the management team.

I have learnt a lot since starting my role. More broadly, I have learnt the basics of investment banking and fundamental financial concepts. I have also learnt more specific skills, such as how to arrange reimbursement and use excel to analyse data and produce meaningful reports.

The vast majority of people have been very supportive and have made this an enjoyable place to work. However it is stressful at times when working to tight targets and deadlines and managing the workload is sometimes challenging.

I feel valued by my manager and the other members of my team. However I sometimes feel that having the title of 'apprentice' has caused others to look down on me.

The external training I do is well organised and structured but is not always completely relevant to my role. It would be useful to have more training on financial concepts and investment banking to develop my understanding of the activities carried out within the business.

I personally I have not received much support, however this has been entirely my choice. If I felt I needed support I know that I could reach out to a number of different contacts and receive as much help and support as I needed.

My employer has been very supportive. I have been allowed to fit in time for studying how and when best suits me. The main challenge has been fitting in time for studying as well as completing my day to day workload.

As far as apprenticeships go I think I am very well paid. However, living in London, it is still sometimes difficult to meet all the day to day costs of transport, rent and bills etc and maintain a social life.

There are many company wide events I can attend, for example there are career workshops and talks on the future of technology. There are also opportunities for volunteering within the community. On the other hand, there are not so many social events.

Yes

It is a large company with lots of room for development and career progression. The salary is fair and on the whole you are treated with respect and allowed to develop your skills and interests.

Do your research, look online to find out as much as you can about the position that you are applying for. Be prepared to work hard, but also expect to receive recognition for this. Being an apprentice you will not be expected to come into the job knowing everything, if anything, about the financial world, however it has really helped me in my day to day job to complete some independent study on the topic to enhance my understanding of the business and support me in discussions with colleagues.