Business Support Senior Assistant Review

For the first year my role largely involves performing individual calculations to work out retirement benefits for members of different pension schemes. I work on a wide variety of clients and I'm gradually learning the different approaches that each scheme takes to revaluing their member's pensions. On the apprenticeship side, I'm set a monthly logbook outcome (somewhat like coursework) where I answer some questions about my work and provide evidence that I've done work relating to the question. I can pick this up when I'm light on work.

A lot of the software that I use is bespoke, meaning that it was all new to me when I first joined. I've gradually learnt when I'll need to use the different types of software, such as if I need to generate annuities or set up an automated calculation, which has made me more efficient at the work I do. I've also learnt a lot of excel formula that my company has set up to make finding revaluation orders easier.

I'm at a stage where I understand what I need to do for the work I'm assigned and know that if I get stuck that there are plenty of people happy to help me. There has been plenty of help with revision for my exams and I feel comfortable with the study targets that are set each month. On the social side, the apprentices all get along and regularly attend the social events that my workplace frequently hold. Overall, I'm very happy with the way the programme is going so far.

You could definitely tell that in the beginning there were some teething issues because the apprenticeship programme was a first for my company. However, they've taken on feedback from last years (and also the first) cohort of apprentices and incorporated this structure into my work. The training I have is more spread out and tailored to the work that I've been doing and I have several points of contact that I can go to if I have any concerns. We're given 18 study days for each exam, which is very generous, and we are able to choose when we take these study days as long as it's no more than once per week. There's lots of study guidance and practice questions from BPP and they contact us after tutorials to give us an opportunity to raise any questions.

I know that I'm able to contact my line manager if I have any concerns, typically about the apprenticeship, and have them be treated in a confidential manner. They're understanding if you need time off for personal reasons or if you need to work different hours on a certain day to run errands.

We have a monthly phone call with our skills coach to discuss how study and logbook progress is going, as well as a face-to-face quarterly catch up where he comes into the office and we have a group discussion. We're able to raise any concerns that we may have. There are plenty of study materials both from the textbook and online on the BPP site. Each tutorial that we have is recorded so we're able to re-watch it if necessary. When studying for my first exam, there was around 400 practice questions with worked solutions that I found particularly helpful.

The first exam I did mainly covered what I'd learnt from A level maths so it wasn't too applicable. I believe the second exam may be more relevant as I recognise some of the notation from work I've completed and the questions themselves are related to the calculations work I do. However, I don't particularly see the benefit of the logbook other than using the examples I write about to pass the endpoint assessment. There are 100 outcomes and each just feels like I'm recalling what work I've done is related to the question and then writing a paragraph about it. It doesn't help me do the work any better next time.

There are lots of activities to get involved in. I'm personally only involved in two of the football teams, but there's also a badminton club and a corporate games event where you can choose to participate in sports ranging from cycling to dragon boat racing. As for the drinking side, there's plenty of opportunities to go out. This includes pub ask, where free drinks are provided from 4-7pm on the last Friday of each month and then people typically venture off to the local pubs.

Yes

It was somewhat nerve wracking to go into an office job straight from college. I was worried that it would be a lot stricter and people would be very work focused and cold to new joiners. However, I've really enjoyed my time here as the nature is fairly lax. You're allowed to wear your own clothes and people are always having conversations at their desks. This is also paired with a good office work ethic, where people know they can have a laugh but as long as they know that they'll be able to get the work done and to a high standard.

As cliché as it sounds, I think being yourself is the best way to stand out. Some of the application questions they asked me where to do with my maths background and what attracted me to the company, but the interviews themselves came across as general discussions where they were genuinely interested in who I was as an individual.