Finance and Commercial Academy Student Review

On a monthly basis I have ownership of both the internal and external forecasts as well as the monthly tracker to see orders and revenue. I download the reconciliations and analyse and make overviews of the engineering functions and currently expenses are a focus. I have frequent training on both internal and external providers.

My communication skills have increased massively since working in a business environment as I have the opportunity to speak to many different people in departments that are not just finance. This has therefore had a positive impact on my confidence but this still has a little way to improve as I am still quite nervous sometimes.

I enjoy being busy and balancing both work and CIMA in my everyday life. The work aspect is challenging but allows me to be social and interact with different people. I push myself to achieve more. With CIMA, I study hard and regularly to pass as many exams as possible.

The structure I believe to be clear. We have 3, 1 year rotations in different placements around the business. This means that we generally move locations every year as well. For our CIMA studies, we have a call with BPP our learning provider every 6 months to track our progress and see what support they can provide so we can progress to the next level.

My Manager in Warwick is fantastic. He gives me all the support I need to feel comfortable in the team, but also pushes me with different tasks so I can improve. My line manager is also always available to help with any problems I am currently having and always checks in to see how my exams are going.

With my training provider BPP we have a call every 6 months to track our progress. This involves going over exam results / future exam plans and how far along in our on the job training we are and whether we have completed the 'skills and behaviours'. For my lectures, I enjoy learning with online lives so I can ask questions in real time to my tutor and she answers any questions I have.

Now that I am in my second placement of my apprenticeship, I feel I am putting my qualification more into practice as for example, my team work through problems with debits and credits which I didn't have in my previous job. The qualification allows me to analyse problems in different ways and also increase my confidence as I have presented powerpoints when this is something that I find quite nervous.

Warwick is a fairly sports orientated location, we have a football team and play badminton weekly (I am not part of either). However my main passion that I enjoy is going to the gym. Whether that is a tricky circuits class, spin class or a heavy leg session, I make sure I go everyday, so that I feel so much healthier and have the endorphins too to make sure I feel confident in my ability. There is also occasional meals out and social situations that we are invited to.

Yes

I think Siemens is a very successful business to work for, it takes into consideration your personal life and preferences and is flexible to work around that, such as policies such as flexible working or working from home. It is a diverse organisation with many different opportunities to push yourself in different directions.

Be confident in your application and speak up. For the Scheme that I am on, be willing to move around the country as this will increase the opportunities that you get and give you a broader range of people to meet, all of which is Networking. Say 'yes' to as many opportunities as possible and seem approachable.