Apprentice Store Manager Review

I am a current Pro-temp Store Manager so i am actually already running my own store. My day to day role is general upkeep of the store, managing and progressing 21 members of staff, providing exceptional KPI's to my business and developing myself to be the best leader i can be.

I have learnt to be a more confident, proactive and positive leader. i have learnt to look at the bigger picture and take the positive out of everything which i do or happens. I have learnt that opportunities are there for you, you have to be prepared to work for them.

I enjoy watching the positive results i am providing for myself, my family and the business. I have a career which i am proud to talk about, i enjoy going to work and enjoy watching the learning i am learning being delivered out to the colleagues around me. I am also enjoy that there is many others now joining the apprenticeship who look up to me.

The programme is organised but takes a lot of effort from everyone involved. I find the times which sessions are booked in by your trainer can sometimes clash with business related events which then prolongs your learning as your trainer may not be available again for another couple of weeks.

I am asked frequently by my Area Manager how i am getting on and checks in on my progress. Apart from that i am not approached by anything else from training or within Iceland - I am sure in the background there is someone in the relevant department checking in on progress.

I recieve a good level of support but as mentioned previously your trainer isn't always available for you and can sometimes take a few days to get back to you with a question regarding learning. Again i appreciate this may be the case as there is a lot of other learners needing the same support

Massively, as mentioned above it has taught me to look at situations in different ways, its developed my management style, it has also developed my team as they are getting what i hope is the best from me. I know more about my job as again i have had to look at different parts/research parts of the business which i never have before.

We dont have any regular extra activities at work. However, throughout the year we have several charity events which we have to set up through our stores. We do have yearly manager conferences which the company pay to put on activities such as car racing, paint balling and then usually pay for everyone to have a drink in the evening.

Yes

I think the company is developing strength to strength and looking back at the business to when i first started to now i have seen many positive and encouraging changes to the operational sides of the business. Investment in to better working tools to do our jobs, job satisfaction, and thinking more about us as managers

Do your research, speak to others who work for the business, don't speak to those who haven't been involved in the business for a while as a lot has changed and mostly for the better. The experience from being interviewed to your first day is very professional and you are kept in the loop with every stage of the process.