finance apprentice Review

I am currently working in the capital income team, so on a daily basis I am responsible for completing a cash reconciliation in the morning, and for the rest of the day I work on processing customer payments for new water connections and chasing for outstanding payments via phone and email.

I have learnt many new skills whilst I have been at severn trent, the main skills involving the use of IT software and systems such as SAP. I have also developed my existing communication skills through contact with customers and the opportunities I've had to present at our finance monthly meetings.

I thoroughly enjoy my apprenticeship programme. Although I have struggled at times with my course provider, my managers and mentors at severn trent have all helped me immensely through these problems. not only is my learning well supported but I also get great opportunities at severn trent such as being part of the employability project. This involves Severn Trent collaborating with Hereward college in Coventry, which is an additional needs college, to provide internships for their students.

my programme is well structured but still allows me to have some input in things such as my placements and what team I will move to next. This means I have the ability to try and aid my learning by trying to keep my placements in line with my studies where possible.

I receive a good amount of support from my employer, however it is expected of me to ask for help if I require it. as apprentices I don't feel as though we are too closely managed, we are trusted to keep up with our studies and perform well in our day to day roles at the same time.

I feel as though the support from my training provider has been very minimalistic. I have encountered several problems with my training provider including my essays not being marked in the time frame they provided. However Severn Trent have tried to overcome this problem for level 4 AAT as they have changed our training provider for the second half of my apprenticeship.

I feel as though this works the opposite way round. My roles as an apprentice tend to help me understand my studies much better by putting them into practice and I find this extremely useful as the support from my training provider isn't great. Therefore my roles have a huge impact on my ability to understand my studies.

There are plenty of extra curricular activities. We often have quiz nights, away days where we have a day of team building and fun away from the office. the social committee organise a variety of events for us to take part in if we wish to do so including summer barbecues.

Yes

I would recommend Severn Trent to a friend because they are a great company to work for. Whilst being here for just over a year, I have had so many great opportunities such as attending the house of commons and meeting several MP's, recently Justine Greening came to STC for a visit where I got to meet her and talk to her about my apprenticeship. I have also been able to get involved in presenting our monthly finance meetings and also the employability project.

At the interview stage, really try and set yourself apart from the other candidates. I had a really unique approach to the presentation part of the assessment centre and even now I have people tell me how much it set me apart and worked in my favour. Severn Trent as a company want apprentices who will be innovative in the future of the water industry and being able to stand out really sets a good impression.