Chartered Manager Degree Apprentice Review

My Apprenticeship role has involved rotations around 4 different fuctions I started in Marketing, moved into Supply Chain, Category and then Sales. Before deciding that I would like to spend my final year on the scheme in Category. This role involves taking data that we recieve from customers and turing it into insight which will allow us to grow the total pet food category.

I have learnt many different soft skills including leadership and public speeking as this apprenticship gives me the opportunity to get involved in things that push me out of my confort zone. so learning where the boundaries of this confort zone are has been a really big thing for me.

I have enjoyed being able to meet and work for lots of different people as this has allowed me to experience lots of different leadership styles. Becuase of the different approaches I have experienced I have been able to beging to develop an idea of what I would like my own style to look like and then experimented with what that means in practice.

The scheme is well structured with other years having run before me there is a path that I am able to follow. However as the scheme deveops there are some elements which are not as clear to me. Splitting our time between sheffield and work not only allows time to fit in our studies but also gives us time out to reflect on the things that are happening at work.

I recieve support from many different elemnts of my employer my line manager and work place mentor have been incredibly supportive and have allowed me to voice any concerns in an open and honest environment. The way that HR is structured has meant that the support from this area of the business is occassionally inconsistent.

The support from sheffield hallam provides me with an opportunity to develop my academic style. For each modules are tutors are invested in ensureing that we get the support that we require to acheive good grades. However becuase we are dropping in and out of sheffield I think there would be value in having some continuity of support like a tutor for example who has more of a chance to get to know us and can help us work towards the total degree rather than just individual modules.

Although my degree training is much more academic than my day to day role at work it does give me the opportunity to explore other ways of approaching my role outside of the Nestlé approach. I think the time that we are alble to spend at univeristy thinging differently allows me time to relect on things that are challenging me are work allowing me to develop solutions.

Yes there are social activites that are organised through our teams at work and we are able to get involved in these where we would like to. The CMI also gives us the opportunity to attend networking events where we would like to. Becuase we are a group of apprentices we organise social events between ourselves so we are able to socialise outside of university.

Yes

It is one of the few employers that offers a scheme like my own and although degree apprenticeships are growing Nestlé's experience in working with providers and apprentices makes it a much more relable choice. The opportinity to work and go to university has been invaluable to me and I don't think I would have found this opportunity anywhere else.

To be yourself applying for a role like this is as much about does the role fit with you as it is about do you fit in the role. Nestlé are not looking for qualifications they are looking for a human being who wants to learn and is prepared to put time time and effort into making that happen.