Graduate Management Trainee Review

I am a graduate management trainee at ENGIE. This is a two year rotational scheme where each 6 months I move to a different part of the business, which, as well, is often in a completely different part of the company. My current role sees me working at a nuclear power station on a facilities management contract we have at the station. Day to day I am learning about all aspects of the contract as well as more broadly, the running of a nuclear power station. This is aided through shadowing of staff on the team at all levels of seniority in day to day work and in meetings with the client. Throughout my placement I will be conducting cold eye reviews of various parts of our core services at the station looking for efficiency savings & process improvements.

Yes definitely through: the job itself, internally delivered training, externally delivered training (through my training provider, QA Apprenticeships) and through the ability to attend industry conferences such as EMEX, Edie Live and FutureBuild. So far I have gained commercial understanding, technical knowledge as well as developed leadership and management skills to rely upon in the years to come.

When considering the variety of work I find myself doing, the culture of the teams I have worked in and the culture of the wider company itself I can certainly say I enjoy working at my company. Unusually, the nature of the programme I am on sees me moving both team and geographical location in the country every 6 months. This of course is a two sided coin - bringing both clear benefits and drawbacks. The benefits are wide ranging, but largely centre around being able to able to experience first hand working in a wide range of teams and types of contract in a relatively short two year time span. This, it is hoped, will enable me to a be a better (and more grounded) future leader in the company. The question here is - do you enjoy your programme? The answer to this is yes, definitely, but there are of course some (unavoidable, but mitigatable) negative implications to consider of packing up and moving every 6 months on your social life and relationships.

The programme is well organised and structured. At the beginning of the programme my fellow starters and I were given a one week induction to give us a whistle stop tour of the wide range of work and nature of sites we operate on. After that we were introduced to the team's of our first placement where I can can definitely say I was provided with the support within the team to learn and develop within that team setting and the nature of work that the team saw themselves working on. My formal apprenticeship training delivered by QA has been structured fine, so far, although I would suggest the order of delivery of modules could be a little better. Atop of this training by QA ENGIE have also delivered a well structured array of additional training internally - both on and offsite, this has been excellent.

My manager and her team in HR have always been available and keen to support. On my placements I also have a placement manager, in my first and current placement both of these managers have also been easily accessible and happy to support as required. There is also a scheme in place on my programme where we are each allocated a buddy - an apprentice one year ahead of you. This additional level of support is brilliant and altogether builds an overall feeling of great support from the company.

I cannot fault the provision of support from my training provider QA - as well as monthly face-to-face catch ups with my allocated skills coach QA also frequently call me to see how I am getting on with the programme in general. It is made clear both in these meetings and on the phone that if required, support is available - I need just ask. I can say the same from the formal training sessions laid on by QA - the trainers at these have also been more than happy to field questions and help with guidance on how to approach essay questions.

I would say that what I'm learning on my apprenticeship does help me on a day-to-day basis but some of the skills and tools for managing people and situations will need the correct setting at work for me be able to practice and bed in so that they become second nature.

Yes definitely - all sorts (although perhaps there could be a little more on the sports teams front). Since starting I have been able to attend informal 'lunch and learn' learning sessions where lunch is provided and a 30 minute talk is given about a different team in the business. I've borrowed self-development books from the office library, attended a Christmas Party and an annual Apprentice Awards night and on the CR front taken part in a beach clean in Brighton. I've also signed up to take part in a charity bike ride from Birmingham to Lands End later in the year organised by ENGIE and to support ENGIE's three chosen charities. At my current placement there is an onsite gym for which membership is a very reasonable £40/year although more broadly on the sports front it would be nice to see a bit more after-work sports, maybe this is something I should look to organise...

Yes

ENGIE is an ambitious company with goals and behaviors that align closely to my own. The nature of work is varied and interesting and the provision of opportunities for self development by the company has so far been faultless. I have attended brilliant training sessions and developed a great deal already despite only working at the company for 7 months.

I would say from my application experience, which included an assessment centre, ENGIE are not trying to catch you out - be yourself, try to relax - it's ok not to know everything, that's fine, but they are looking for a positive, constructive attitude and eagerness to learn. From my experience I would say that ENGIE are much more looking for the person that matched the behaviors and character ENGIE seeks to embody, with this keen ambition to learn that I mentioned, but without the 'know it all attitude' that some (unsuccessful) applications perhaps came across as having.