Account Manager Apprentice Review

I am an apprentice in the account management department. I am currently still training for this role so I'm spending a lot of time in training sessions and shadowing people and they will sit with me whilst I take a call. We will then review the call once after and I will be given feedback. As well as this i am also taking on numerous projects. One of these is to improve the efficiency of the post process. This means that we have taken over post from the department whilst I look at how to improve it. I also have taken over vintage, which involves looking at some of the poor deals that are written by underwriters, from an account management perspective, and then seeing if there is any learning off the back of this. In the future I will be taking over a portfolio in which i will have to manage myself.

Account management in general is a skill. I am developing my communication skills as I spend a lot of time over the phone with customers. A large part of the job role is active listening and open questions when the customer is talking over the phone. I also have to manage myself as I have a few different projects ongoing at once, so I have to make sure I manage my time well so that I am on top of everything. I also have to make decisions on my portfolio and on the phone call as to what I'm doing next. I have also taken on lots of responsibility.

I am really enjoying both the work and university side of my apprenticeship. I enjoy the work as I am constantly learning. We also have the trust from the company in order to do projects that actually matter. My team has a close relationship and we spend 3 hours a week in training sessions, often in the team. This means that we have the time to bond well and share what we have been doing differently so that we can keep improving as a team, but also ensure we are sharing what we are doing with other teams. This means that the department can keep improving.

From a work point of view, the program is very well organised. At the start of the program I was new to the business so I had a week of induction. In this week we learnt all about the business. I also spent a day down in Nottingham at head office with all the apprentices from the business and we did some team building activities. There is lots of training provided to ensure we are able to do the job role to a high standard. I have regular meetings with my team leader and mentor so that can see where I am up too in terms of work, and also university. I am given a wide range of tasks so I do not get bored and I am treated equally to other team members.

I have a team leader to support me with work and a mentor to support me with the university side. However my team leader is also there to support me with university and has stated he would be happy to read any assignments I have, as well as my operations manager so I have lots of support from university. There is also support from my team leader at work as they are monitoring our progress to ensure we aren't under too much pressure.

My training provider is Manchester Metropolitan University. They provide a fair amount of support. This mainly comes from our skills coach. This skills coach is always there for us to contact if we need them. Also they will have a meeting every three months with me, my team leader and mentor and this is a catch up from how things are doing, both at work and at university. However sometimes I feel like the meetings are a box ticking exercise.

I feel like it gives me the skills in order to do my day to day role well. I have presented some of the theory I have learnt at work, to our team to improve their knowledge of the PAC model and also negotiation skills. I also feel that the course is setting me up well for the future as a manager.

I am currently enrolled on Business Foundation which is an internal training course consisting of 12 sessions over a year. This course will help me to understand the core values of a business and how to create a business that is built to last. It also helps me to understand how to set goals for the future. I also spend time with other apprentices and have a budget of £25 per quarter for a team night out.

Yes

I feel like First Response is a good place to work for. They put staff at the heart of their business and so, treat them well. There are plenty of employee benefits, like a free monthly massage, and lots of programs for development, like business foundation and leadership accademy. The staff and managers are also there to help. First Response has company values which has helped to build the good experience staff may have.

The application process is not easy. There are often telephone interviews and assessment day. On these assessment days there are tasks that are designed to be challenging. However, these tasks are also designed to fit with the companies values and can be used to see whether you would be a good fit at First Response.