Apprentice Project Manager Review

We move departments every 6 months to get a view of different parts of the business, which has been good to provide a range of experiences in line with the apprenticeship objectives. At TfL the opportunities and range of projects is particularly broad, and not all projects are transport related. You can choose where you go for placements and even set up your own. Work can vary depending on the project team however mostly consists of supporting the PM with management of the project, taking ownership of smaller tasks or mini projects when possible. Most of the people I worked with were happy to give me responsibility and were able to support my development. It's definitely an organisation where you can get out of it what you put in and most everyone i have worked with has been friendly and supportive. Some management of the scheme itself has been a bit frustrating and disorganised but overall my experience working here has been positive.

I think that whenever you are working with other people you will learn new skills, particularly communicating with a range of different types of people, adapting to scenarios and using your judgement. As an apprentice you will meet a lot of people, and have the opportunity to learn from each one. I have of course also learned project management skills within the context of the organisation, and have developed my ability to manage and prioritise my workload.

Overall I have been pretty happy with my experience in this role, and have been happy to come to work every day! I have lovely colleagues and the work is enjoyable and for the most part, varied. If I had a complaint about the programme it would be that I feel the portfolio distracts from the job, because i have to find specific pieces of work to complete my portfolio objectives. This means I don't feel as though i am benefiting my team as much as I could be if i were simply doing work which served them. I feel I have learned a lot but it isn't necessarily the exact things i have been expected to show that I have learned throughout my experience.

i have had frustrations with the programme as I havent felt it has been clear what is expected of us by QA. The portfolio rubric is poorly written and not at all clear, and we were not given enough guidance about how to present our portfolios. It feels as though we have often been drip fed information, in an attempt not to "Confuse" us, but it has just left us even more confused with half the information. My cohort had one apprenticeship supervisor from QA which was not enough resources to support all 20 of us, meaning we haven't always got portfolio feedback/ answers in a timely manner. Internally, there have also been some issues with how the scheme has been managed/ information sharing which we have fed back and some have already been dealt with.

My cohort received individual scheme sponsors and i have been lucky enough to have an excellent amount of support from mine, however this isn't the case across the board. Hopefully they will role this out in future as it has added huge amounts of value to my experience. We have support from within the PMO, and the placement managers provide support, guided by QA. There have been some issues with internal information sharing, which could be improved.

Some. Some of the trainers were quite bad when it came to preparing us for the exam. My exam workshop for one was absolutely a waste of time and left me more confused than prepared. the way the material was taught was not supportive of the exam structure so it took a lot of self study to fully understand what was expected from us. I didn't feel that the workshops needed to be a week long.

The qualification has helped a little to understand key roles in the organisation however APM does not align to the way my organisation run their projects. I found it quite confusing learning both processes at once

There are extra-curricular activities, staff network groups, social gatherings, apprentice and graduate scheme events, site visits, etc.

Yes

They are a good organisation to work for, with a good culture, nice people and plenty of opportunities across a range of different project types. It is nice to work for a company with a clear vision and strong values, who try to do good within the community. It is nice to work for a company who's products you use every day. They are also a rare company who provide decent staff benefits.

Do your research - Understand what the business do and why you want to work here. Just be yourself, and don't be afraid to speak your mind.