Apprentice Analyst Review

My role is that of a normal, full time analyst. I am treated no differently to a full time member of the team and am expected to act as such. Day to day that means I take part in daily rota's lead a group huddle once every couple of weeks, amidst my specific tasks of running the method tasked to me.

I've learned new skills aplenty. I've learned a lot of job specific skills such as the correct usage of calibrated equipment, how to do the calibrations, proper care of analytical equipment and instrumentation, and learned much more about health and safety than could be mentioned. Skills that have been developed include team working, IT skills, communication has been a huge part of the job and has therefore improved massively, public speaking, and taking responisblity for actions and work.

The programme itself has been quite enjoyable. There have been site visits to go on to explore other areas of the business, pletny of opportunites for personal and skill growth by taking some of the many different learning courses that are up for use, and opportunities to let others within different business areas learn a bit more about what we do specifically.

Organisation on the Thames side of things has been okay. The course co-ordinators seem a little unaware of some of the happenings due to a lack of communication on both sides, and last year seeming ery crammed with opportunities that were supposed to happen throughout our entire programme. The University side of things is also very crammed with not much attention paid to deadlines and not much thought put into those of us who have to work as well as do a university course.

I recieve a lot of support from my employer in terms of assisting me through the stages of my apprenticeship. If I have an exam coming up then there are days that can be taken to give extra time to revise in case things pile up and cause stress or anxiety. This applies to a general working day too. If things get ontop of me then I always have people to turn to who can assist me.

As mentioned, in terms of exams, I am allowed a day of study leave per exam, which could be more useful if two were the allowance, but one works fairly well, plus the day off for an exam due to travel allowances for the distance. I also have people to turn to for assistance in case I have too much stress due to work and they can help me lower the stress to gie more focus on studying.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm gaining from the training provider in terms of better performance in my daily role. The topics covered at university don't bear any use to me in my daily job at the moment, but I am aware that further years do include other topics that will be more work based for me, such as analytical techniques. I do however wonder what the overall use of the qualification is apart from showing I have the drive to study for longer.

If there are any extra-curricular activites at work, they aren't widely if at all advertised. A sports team has recently begun which went around on the email to raise awareness of it, but specifically at my workplace, there very few activities to join in with outside of the working day. Having some of these available to us would definietly further increase team cohesion I reckon.

Yes

It's a very caring and considerate place to work. If you have any issue that need attending, then you have the freedom to explain them to a team leader or another higher member of staff and they can assist you or let you leave early if needed. They also do care about employees and want the best for them and for them to be safe, happy and healthy (Both in body and mind).

The standard application tips always apply. Be yourself, don't lie because they'll catch you out, do a little pre reading about thames because, even if you don't get asked, it's always good to know a little bit about who you work for, and finally, make sure to show you're passionate about the job, employers love to see a candidate who is genuinely interested in what they're applying to do.