Business Support Assistant Review

My role was to support my department with any administrative needs such as diary management, organising and setting up meetings both internal and external. I also took care of some employee benefits such as a cycle scheme and arranging eye care vouchers. I would action any stationary needs for the department and place any orders, this included dealing with invoices and raising regular purchase orders to ensure all payments were made in a timely manner.

I feel as though this course has really helped me to develop my time management and organisation skills which is very beneficial for a role such as mine. My skills surrounding any ICT aspects of the job have also really improved and I have noticed I’m much more confident when using softwares such as Microsoft Excel which is something I never knew much about. This is something I wouldn’t have achievement having not done this course.

I enjoyed my programme as it coincides with my job roll very nicely and a lot of the learning was “office based” meaning I could complete my normal job tasks and use them as evidence for the programme with an explanation of how and why I done them. This meant it was comfortable to balance my assigned tasks with studying. It was nice to be able to develop my skills and gain new ones.

The organisation at the beginning of my course was a little rocky meaning communication was a bit blurred and it was slow to get going. After a few months things began to improve and work was being set regularly. The online portal used to set tasks made it very simple to see the work that was completed, assigned and any topics or tasks that would be coming up in the future of the course. It also had a progress bar which was nice to visually see where I was at.

My employer was very supportive overall. My line manager was especially supportive allowing me to allocate plenty of time to my apprenticeship work. My colleagues were great when it came down to collaborating with me in regards to my apprenticeship work. They were more than happy to give me their time and feedback for any aspects of my work. This meant I was able to familiarise myself with departments that I wouldn’t usually on a day to day basis.

The apprenticeship was off to a slow start at the beginning and it was quite confusing to understand what work I needed to complete and to what standard too. After expressing my concerns with timing of the course, I was assigned a different tutor who was very supportive and was available at all times if I had any questions or queries. They helped me to understand what I needed to be doing and gave me great feedback

My qualification helped me perform better in role as I gained a knowledge for the sector that I didn’t have before. Even aspects such as some of the theories behind business and why things are carried out in a certain way etc. I find it comes into play daily even without realising, for example how I make decisions can be determined by things I have learnt through my course. Again, this overall makes me more confident.

Yes, there were various committees I could join if I wanted. Examples include the health & safety committee and social & wellbeing committee (which focused on planning different events to bring everybody together). There was plenty of opportunity to socialise and meet new people.

Yes

It’s a very friendly place where everybody is willing to get involved and give you a helping hand if you need it. There is a nice balance of times to get your head down to focus on certain tasks and times to socialise in a slightly less formal atmosphere. I don’t believe I would have completed my apprenticeship had it not been for the abundance of support I was given by my colleagues.

Just be yourself and don’t be afraid to ask any questions. There is always people around that will be willing to help out. Having completed the apprenticeship I fee as though it is very important to have an understanding of business in general and of course the company itself.