Management Trainee Review

My role at Engie is to mobilise the new building that was built on the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital site. My day-to-day activities for this role include coordinating with external stakeholders, preparing reports and executing follow up actions. There is also project management, where I work toward the mobilisation plan and monitor the progress and performance to ensure that we are on track. I create and deliver interactive dashboards for internal stakeholders and clients. I am also responsible for monitoring and the closure of Non-Conformance Reports on the contract.

There have been a number of skills that I have been able to learn and develop throughout my apprenticeship. I have learned collaboration and team building skills which have been so valuable throughout my apprenticeship. I learned about the importance of emotional intelligence and how to use it. This has been a very important skill in which I will definitely benefit from in the future. The most important part of the apprenticeship is that I learned how to assess where I need to develop. I subsequently then learned how to break down the areas into manageable stages. I have come so far after doing this apprenticeship and cannot recommend it enough.

Due to the pandemic, the apprenticeship had to go online versus in person. I really enjoyed the in person sessions as the teachers were able to demonstrate the power of what we were learning in real life scenarios that were relevant to us. However, as a result of the pandemic, they had to do the rest of the sessions online. I really enjoyed these sessions as well because the teachers put in a lot of effort and tried to make the program as engaging as possible. Overall, I really enjoyed every aspect of the apprenticeship, it was a lot more interesting and fun than I originally thought.

The apprenticeship was set out into key sections and spread out across the duration. The team were very organised in setting up additional meetings as well as the main sessions. There was a clear structure that you could plan around and do some preparative reading to get more out of the sessions. The assignments were well structured in the fact that you could do them in different forms such as professional discussion or PowerPoint which allowed me to build on skills that I had learned in the sessions. There was more than enough time to research and produce the assignments, removing stress in getting it done and improved the overall experience.

As part of Engie, I received a lot of support to complete my apprenticeship. I had regular meetings with my line manager who would make sure that I am on track and would support me with any issues I was having. There was never an issue with me spending time to do my apprenticeship, everyone on the contracts that I worked on was really understanding and supportive in my development. They would also recommend different resources that I could use to aid my improvement.

I have had so much support from my training provider. They offer support 9am to 5pm every work day of the week and were very quick at responding to questions and queries. They have also been very engaged throughout my development, sending out reminders and any resources that they would recommend that give a better overview of the module content. We were also able to organise 1-2-1 sessions with them where they were able to support us in career decisions and preparations such as mock interviews and reviewing my CV.

The improvements I have made form my apprenticeship are unquantifiable. There is so much that I have learned that I have been able to apply in my role which has not only benefited me but the people around me as well. I am more confident in my decisions, I have a better understanding on how to get the most out of myself and my team around me. I have learned to manage my time more efficiently, built better relationships and acquired knowledge on how to collaborate and motivate my team. Which has ultimately improved their performance as well.

At Engie, there is so much that you can get involved in. There are several groups available which people can join and network which are great. I for example, am part of the Young Professional Network, where we organise different networking events for people across the business. We also have CSR days where we spend 2 days working either for a local charity or one of our choosing. These are really great sessions to get involved in. The group also sponsor people to take part in marathons and other such events. Truly, Engie has a lot to offer.

Yes

There are many reasons why I would recommend Engie: 1) They focus on your development within the industry, so everything that you learn is transferrable to any department/industry that you choose to go into. 2) Engie is such a wide business and on my apprenticeship I was able to experience multiple different business streams and had the opportunity to learn how they all worked and linked together. 3) The people are so supportive, within Engie and the apprenticeship provider and they all coach and support you throughout your time there.

Make the most of every opportunity that you are given, you never know what doors it will open or direction it will give you in your career. I would also recommend trying to get involved in as much of the extra-curricular activities as you can. These are great opportunities to network with lots of like minded people and be able to understand more about the wider business. The last thing that I would recommend is attending all of their workshops and webinars that provide great insight into getting the most out of your time at Engie.