Commercial Degree Apprentice Review

As a Commercial Degree Apprentice, I undergo structured annual rotations across the commercial function to gain exposure. My current role is as a Marketing Analyst, which is fundamentally about supporting the Marketing team in gathering and analysing data and insight to create actionable strategies for the sales team to use to drive our customer partnerships. Day-to-day, this is an incredibly varied role. It entails using systems to pull raw data such as EPOS sales data and manipulate it to create insight into trends, as well as raising POs and administrative responsibilities. In addition to this, I respond to ad-hoc internal and external customer queries.

First and foremost, my public speaking and presentation skills have developed immensely through this placement. Much of the work I complete involves building up to presenting insights to internal and external customers to inform strategy, so being able to present effectively and persuasively is something I have developed. Additionally, my existing organisational skills of time management and self drive have been expanded during this apprenticeship. Managing various work project and task deadlines alongside university study and assignment deadlines has been challenging and has required me to work on how I prioritise tasks based on urgency and importance.

I enjoy my programme to a moderate extent. The organisation and teams within Greencore that I have worked in are incredibly supportive and encouraging, from which I have learned a great deal and enjoyed working with. Prior to the disruption of COVID-19, I particularly enjoyed the mobility of my role in visiting different sites and meeting customers which not only enhanced my learning but brought a great deal of variety. Similarly, going to university and seeing fellow apprentices across the business was a great experience that I miss. However, it has been difficult to transition straight from A-Levels to a full-time work role alongside university, despite the unwavering support of my team and university. For this reason, I have enjoyed the programme slightly less than expected, but overall I do enjoy it and recognise the value that it has in accelerating my career development.

The programme is incredibly well structured and organised both from the perspective of my employer and the training provider. The programme that I am on is a four year programme aligned with the CMDA with the aspiration of developing management capabilities by the end of the four years. As such, this involves structured, planned rotations around the commercial function to gain exposure and development, utilising on-the-job and off-the-job training throughout. To that end, I attend university on average two days a month and the communications from university allow me to plan this into my work schedule. Additionally, I receive structured support in the form of a weekly study day to focus on off-the-job learning and university studying, as well as having access to a workplace and a university mentor throughout the programme.

My employer is incredibly supportive of the programme. Recognising the value that degree apprentices can bring to the business, Greencore invests heavily in our programme. For example, I am given ample time (circa one day per week) to focus on university work which ensures I am able to meet deadlines and undertake the necessary learning. In addition to this, I am provided with a workplace mentor whom I can consult for guidance on any problems I may be facing, while my managers have been supportive too in honouring study time and coaching me throughout the programme. Finally, we have a cohort of degree apprentices across the business who are also a great source of support - these individuals are going through the same experience so we are able to share learnings and support each other throughout the programme.

The university team are mostly very supportive in helping us to work towards the degree. The tutors are highly responsive to email queries and usually reply within a day in my experience and they are approachable should any problems occur. Guidance on course expectations and for assessments is generally clear and tutors are available for calls to clarify certain aspects further. If I were to change one thing about how the university supports us, it would be to focus slightly longer-term. For example, though guidance is sound for assignments and immediate learning, in my experience little emphasis is placed on how we can prepare for the end point assessment (EPA) from day one. Although I appreciate this is 3-4 years from the start of the course, starting with the end in mind could allow students to better prepare and have an understanding of what they need to work towards.

The qualification has clear applications to my role in terms of the way in which knowledge and theory is consistently applied. The nature of the course means that learning is often experiential; for instance, reflecting on workplace learnings. We also apply theory to our industries and organisations, which does help to embed knowledge and this understanding does sometimes manifest in better performance in my role, for example as a result of better knowledge of the industry. However, there is a certain element of learnings not being transferable from university to my role. In my experience, much of the knowledge acquired at university is more applicable to middle and senior management positions, rather than the entry level role that apprentices often occupy. I can see how as my seniority develops the learning will be critical, but currently its usefulness is therefore limited.

My organisation has strong ties with local communities, which gives the opportunity to involve myself in events such as career and apprenticeship talks at local schools and colleges. This is an aspect of the job that I thoroughly enjoy and I wish I had the opportunity to be involved in more extra curricular activities. Unfortunately, however, in my experience social events and company activities are limited. I would like to see a greater focus on team building and networking activities, or sports clubs such as a work 5 a side football team. That said, much of my time within the organisation has been spent in a 'COVID world' and this may therefore not apply when normality resumes.

Yes

Greencore invests heavily in its people's learning and development. The programme I am on is a great testament to that assertion, but I also see a relentless focus on ensuring every member of staff has an active development plan. I also love Greencore's strive for excellence and the culture of continuous improvement and aspiration for growth. I believe there are good opportunities for progression in a progressive workplace so for these reasons I would recommend Greencore to a friend.

My main piece of advice to any individual applying to Greencore (and indeed any other organisation) would be to thoroughly research the organisation's vision, strategy and objectives; get really curious on what it is we strive for and pick out a few examples of good practice that you could ask an interview about. I would also say that having a keen interest in the food industry helps. In addition, as part of the onboarding process I would urge individuals to not be afraid to ask for support. If you've been successful and appointed for a role, everybody wants to make sure you are able to perform your best, so it's better to ask for support than to silently struggle in your early days with the organisation.