Commercial Undergraduate for Business Support and Industrialisation Review

We visit various different placements in commercial and operational support departments around site in Broughton. We learn new skills and gain experiences in each department, picking up tasks and contributing to the success of the team over the space of 4 month placements. We take on responsibility and demonstrate our abilities and learning in this time, which we can transfer and take with us to other areas of the business.

I have developed various new skills during my time here. These are skills that are specific to Airbus, as well as transferable leadership skills and general life skills. We learn from expert employees and have the ability to demonstrate this learning on a daily basis. One specific skill that I have developed during my time here is persuasion and influence.

I enjoy coming to work and interacting with new people. I feel job satisfaction with the new skills, abilities and experiences I am picking up. I find some placements more enjoyable than others, which is no surprise as everyone has different interests. An improvement would be for apprentices to have more say over what placements we visit. The university aspect of the course is also enjoyable.

The programme is well structured as we are provided with our placements and start dates on our first day. However, I feel as the apprenticeship goes on and we develop a greater understanding of our career direction, there should be a bit more flexibility for what departments we visit. All training courses and qualifications are organized and arranged by our early careers managers, which is a good.

We have specific Early Careers managers within a department dedicated to apprentices. We have support from these with issues or requests. Likewise, we have managers in each placement we visit. These also provide us with support as well as advice as we work our way around the company. The majority of employees on site were once apprentices here, so have a good understanding of the position we are in.

Our training provider is easily contactable, with two way conversation between ourselves and tutors. The content that is delivered is very detailed. However a lot of the content isn't directly applicable to our workplace, which can make things difficult. We have a Personal Academic Tutor who visits us in the workplace.

I feel as though I pick up a lot of learning from my degree course, and it is a positive that it is focused around work based learning. However, Airbus is a very unique company and I feel as though some of the content does not apply to our workplace. A positive is that the degree is transferable, and we are on the course with experienced employees from other companies, which provides us with more learning and lessons.

There are countless numbers of extra curricular activities to get involved in at Airbus. These include outward bounds weeks and foreign challenge experiences in France and Germany, as well as activities a lot closer to home such as early career's social evenings, charity events, sports evenings and events, organized visits and we even have our own football club.

Yes

Airbus has provided me with invaluable learning and endless opportunities that have kick started my career, and have put me years ahead of others of my age. I have made connections that will last a lifetime and had experiences beyond my years. I have all of my education, training and qualifactions paid for which have enabled me to build a healthy CV at such a young age. I have a job for when I finish my scheme in my desired area, and opportunity to grow and lead teams in the near future.

Research the company, and know the ins and outs of who you are wanting to work for. Be confident in yourself and trust your instincts - don't pretend to be someone you're not. If you are accepted on to the course, take every opportunity possible with both hands and give 100% in everything you do. Work hard in your placements and you will see the rewards.