Higher Apprentice Project Manager Review

My day-to-day role is very dependent on the placement I am working in at the time. In each placement I will have objectives and competencies to achieve. Therefore the majority of my day-to-day tasks revolve around me gaining the correct level of knowledge and experience to be able to tick of these competencies. I will need to communicate with the relevant stakeholders to gain this information, attend meetings to understand what my tasks impact and why the task I am doing is important in the business.

As previously stated in question one, in each placement I have competencies to ensure when I exit my scheme I am a fully qualified Project Manager. Due my 3 years I will rotate to many different areas of the business to pick up these new skills. One of the main skills I have learnt that I use in every task I do is communication. I have understood the different formats it comes in, why it is important and how to make the communication clear and unambiguous. I have also learnt other business wide skills such as: project controls, risk, quality and planning.

During my time on the scheme I have thoroughly enjoyed coming to work. I am challenged every day with new work and new problems that need to be solved. I have met some wonderful people in which I have become close friends with. During my placement rotations in the business I have built up many contacts which I know I can rely on if I ever needed their help again.

Overall my scheme is very structured. The placement rotation is laid out and very well to indicate to all Higher Apprentices when we will move to our next placements. We know in advance where we will be heading therefore we can make arrangements to meet our new team. Our week is the same structure: working the same amount of hours with college always being on a Thursday for 2nd year Project Managers.

Within the business, I have many points of contact that I can discuss issues and matters with. Firstly there is my discipline manager for Project Management. I have a 1:1 with her every month to discuss how my placement and college is going. If I have any concerns or issues with any of those I can raise that to her to try and resolve. I also have Early Careers a department made for apprentices and graduates to go to for concerns. As an external contact from Early Careers I have my mentor. A mentor is someone who is usually in a more senior role and has made many years of business experience. If I end any professional advice I can speak to them to see if they have any suggestions.

The training provider for our Project Management Foundation Degree is the University of Cumbria. University of Cumbria come to Furness College every Thursday to teach us different modules of our degree. When preparing for tests, we are given practice questions to go through to ensure we understand the style of question and what the question is asking us to do. When we are preparing for written assignments, we can send our tutors drafts to get some feedback to help us with our structure and if we are on the right lines on what we should be writing.

I feel like the information and modules that have been taught through the University of Cumbria is very relatable to the work I carry out at BAE Systems. I can apply some of the lessons and principles to many different placements. Also, if I have gone to a placement before learning the module, I can apply the specific information that BAE use to the module to understand how it is done in a normal business.

In BAE, we have the opportunity to participate in STRETCH assignments. These are extra-curricular activities apprentices can get involved in. STRETCH assignments are projects that are carried out by apprentices for many different age groups, mainly for school students. These help us gain competencies that we may not get in placements such as leadership. As a trainee, we have our own Christmas night out to Lancaster- there are also functions or year nights out depending on the organiser. Another social event that the Higher Apprentices can get involved in is sports. There is a Higher Apprentice rounders team which competes in a local league on a Tuesday night in spring and summer.

Yes

BAE Systems Higher Apprenticeship is a great scheme to be a part of. You gain a lot of experience by going to different areas of the business, understand different skills and gain competencies in many different business areas. I have many different stakeholders who have been every helpful in teaching me new skills and information about the product and business I work for. I have met some wonderful people on the scheme who are now my best friends. I get a full education that is paid for me and many different opportunities to be able to participate in STRETCH assignments and social activities.

For anyone looking to apply to BAE Systems, I would tell them to do research on the business and the company on a global scale. They should also consider the different apprenticeship and graduate schemes that are available depending on the entry point they want to take (from school, from college or from university). They should look into the different roles they can have and see which appeals to them most- going to events that the business runs would also help as they can talk to current apprentices and employees of the business. When doing the application, make sure you use key words and get someone else to proof read it to make sure both spelling and grammar are correct. Do some aptitude tests online so you are aware of what they are like and the style of questions.