Project Management Apprentice Review

As a project management apprentice I move through 5 different placements with various roles; project planning, detail planning, project controls, risk and change. These roles offer a range of new skills and opportunities for development in new environments and completing challenging tasks.

I have been able to learn many new skills within my time on the apprenticeship as well as develop new ones. I am a lot more confident when speaking in groups and I am now more able to utilise the IT software's needed for my work tasks.

I have really enjoyed the programme so far as I have been given so many different opportunities to grow professionally and personally within each new team. The learning culture has been so supportive and encouraging I have felt happy at work and able to learn freely.

The programme has been very well structured with each placement. I think because we are the first PM apprentices for BAE it is sometimes hard for the managers to understand what skills we should be learning however the placement objectives are very helpful in ensuring we learn everything we need to become qualified project professionals.

Throughout this apprenticeship I have received so much helpful support from many people in the business. From managers, colleagues and other apprentices everyone I have met so far have helped me learn and develop new skills and I have appreciated all of the help I have gotten. It is a great culture to be a part of where continuous development and learning is so well supported and encouraged.

We have received some level of support from the QA provider however it is more a case we work on our qualifications on our own and receive a small amount of feedback every so often. I have felt that there has been very little feedback on the work I have produced for the qualification and this makes me question whether I am really giving correct work for a strong online folio.

I actually think that it has been the opposite for my programme. As we only get one week of training every ten weeks or so and very few interactions in between, I feel as though it has actually been the learning on the job that has really helped me to grasp the work from the training provider. From being right into work from the start of my apprenticeship it has allowed me to pick up better detail of the business and incorporate that into my folio.

There are many different opportunities to get involve in within the workplace that give more chances to challenge yourself outside the normal working environment. I have been part of the apprentice council from the start of my apprenticeship and have and have had great opportunities to meet new people, organise new events and get involved with great charity fundraisers. This has been a great chance to develop my skills in a different environment with different people.

Yes

I would recommend a friend to work for BAE as the opportunities for growth and development are never ending. I am constantly working on new projects and gaining the widest amounts of knowledge that I can from as many different people that I can and so far the experience has been amazing! I don't think I would find the amount of learning and development I have from any other apprenticeship or even going to university so this route has definitely been the right move for me.

A few pieces of advice I would give is be honest on your application, make sure you talk about everything you have been involved with even if its a small project at school/uni it can really go a long way, and the last thing I would say is if you get to the interview stage make sure you have some knowledge of the company and understand fully what we do and how we work, that will be very beneficial if you can show your interest in the company.