Apprentice Review

When I first started my day-to-day experience was poor with not much to do. My manager wasn't sure what work to give me as she wasn't provided much information and wasn't kept in the loop with the apprenticeship scheme. There wasn't much training as an apprentice and I lost a lot confidence and became very anxious due to this. The company was a good place to work and the colleagues were great to work with, a lot of my friends had great experiences and thrived working here. As time went on and I spoke to my manager we got a better understanding of how I could be useful which resulted in me having a higher workload, mainly being admin tasks, answering queries and collecting data and reporting on it.

I learnt a lot of basic admin skills, answering phones, sending emails, writing posts, and worked with a lot more Microsoft programmes and different in house software. I would meet with stakeholders and collecting information, and present findings as well as analyse reports and present them on power point to colleagues. The knowledge you pick up at Sage is endless as you get to meet and speak to so many highly experienced colleagues who are always happy to tech and help.

The programme could be better. There isn't much support for Apprentices, such as direction to go if we have a problem or if we are finding something difficult. Not really any guidance on when your apprenticeship is coming to an end which can be stressful and there isn't much help with what to do next. Doesn't seem to be much recognition within the scheme either, like finishing courses or passing exams. The other apprentices you work with make it more enjoyable, planning charity days together and out of work activities to celebrate and keep things fun. You do get a lot of opportunities to be involved in things but it does depend on your confidence. The other colleagues in your team treat you like a team member from the start and always want to help.

The organisation is the weak point of the programme, no one really knows whats going. Apprentice's are usually informing their manager of things and it is hard to explain the balance of work time and study time. Managers aren't prepped on what to expect from an apprentice and how their work load should be given. They don't get much explanation about their apprentice's course and how the work needs to tie into this and be specific. Managers are always happy to support and help but there is a lack of communication throughout the programme making it hard to do so. You don't get a mentor which could would benefit apprentice's greatly as the only other person they can go to is there manager.

I receive support from my manager by having monthly 1-2-1's where I can talk about what is going well and what I need more support and help with. This makes it easiest to receive the support immediately and not wait around for ages waiting for the support you need.

As the training provider is off-site it is hard to receive much support as you can't build a relationship with them. This created many issues and made it hard to do the work expected and find help on more difficult sections of work. This varies for most apprentices though.

My course was't what I expected it to be but it has given me a lot of knowledge in my chosen area. Although it has helped me improve my work it is a lot more in-depth and more advance than expected. This makes it a struggle to come up with 'on the job work' related to the course that I need evidence on to refer to in my studies.

We get to do 5 charity days a year working at Sage. This means we can have the full working day off work to help out at a charity. This can be a one close to your heart of from a list on Sage's intranet that you like the sound of. Most colleagues to them in their team but you can do them individually too.

Yes

The overall place is a good place to work and Sage are really good to staff, with a lot of benefits, perks, and great people. But the apprenticeship scheme lets it down due to lack of support and understanding, this can be improved, But it is still an overall amazing experience for a first job out of school/uni/sixth form, full of opportunities and help that you can use in the future.

Have a lot of confidence and take any opportunity you can. It is easy to sit back and watch everyone else get involved but it's worth giving everything a try as it will pay off. Work hard and put all your effort in as people do notice and feedback gets passed to your manager in team tasks and presentations.