Project Administrator Apprentice Review

I support the project managers at AstraZeneca by owning their calendars (booking, rescheduling and cancelling meetings), taking actions and running their meetings, creating slides and data for them to present, finding information/data for their projects, running the induction programme and many other day to day jobs that come up.

Yes I have gained so much confidence whilst being in my role. I have also been on lots of IT courses to develop my excel and powerpoint skills to help the team more efficiently. I have also been on personal development day at AstraZeneca to develop myself and behaviours in the workplace. I have had many opportunities to learn new systems like ICON which Astrazeneca use and go on Lean courses and Problem solving.

I enjoy my programme to a great extent. I have met and worked with so many different people across the business from apprentices like me to members of the leadership team and supporting their needs. Everyone in my team is so friendly and supportive of my development and have made it such an enjoyable experience. As well as my role, my mentor supports me in going to explore other areas of the business to develop a better knowledge of business process and to network with other teams. I have been given so many great opportunities already (including a trip to cambridge campus)

My programme is very organised by my mentor and manager. They have set out what they would like me to achieve each quarter of the year (like training and mini projects) and that is very easy to follow and see how well i am achieving against this list of things to do.

I receive a lot of support from my employer, my mentor is always making sure i have things to do and i am able to do them to the standard required. They also push me to do things that i may not have considered doing at first but know that it will help develop my personal skills. They have also given me a lot of support with the college work, making sure we are ok and if any support is required.

I receive a lot of support from the training provider. I have monthly meetings with my tutor to check how i am getting on with my work and making sure we are up to date with the work set. However, the work i feel isn't always reviewed by the tutor as well as it should be so i think support could be improved from that point of view.

My qualification requires me to find out about AstraZeneca and how the business works and also what impacts it. We have learnt about the stakeholders, external factors, supply chain and many more. This gives me a better understanding of the company i work in and so helps me see how my role fits in and how i contribute towards the company success

There are a few sports clubs like a football team and running club. There is also some social events like AZ Pride group. There arent many professional networking events that i know of and not many specific apprentice social events that are happening which is something that could be improved

Yes

AstraZeneca really cares about its employees and their well being. It is happy for people to develop all their skills personal/work related. They provide a lot of training oppotunitities. They also have such a friendly and supportive community. It is also amazing knowing the work that you do is saving lives and helping patients - there is no better reward.

Take your time to do the application, there is a lot of questions which require thought - it does not have to be filled in all in one day. The assessment days are intense but it is best to relax, be yourself and get as much out of it as possible by asking questions and developing interview skills. Everyone else at the interview is in the same position as you so just find something that makes you stand out. Everyone is being watched at the assessment day so if you feel as though you are at a disadvantage in one of the games (someone being too controlling) the assessors will pick that up too so dont worry. You are able to make many friends through the on boarding process with social opportunities to meet the other apprentices.