Project Management Degree Apprentice Review

One day a week we have university lectures taught at Rolls-Royce and the other 4 days a week we are working in our placements (which we move around every 6 months). In our placements we are either a project controller - who helps with update project plans and project reporting or a project lead - who is responsible for managing their own project including time, cost, quality and scope.

I have learnt a lot more about what a project manager does and it has been really useful to put the knowledge we gain from our university degree into practice in our placements. I have learnt a lot about schedule, cost, quality and scope management as well as leadership and people skills.

I have been enjoying my programme, however, I feel that 4 years is a long time to be tied into one job sector as fairly quickly you will decide what you do and don't like about project management and figure out which industry or other job role you might be interested in. Getting a degree whilst gaining experience has been extremely valuable and will set us up to get really jobs after the scheme.

We are the first year completing our course so Rolls-Royce and the university have been learning along the way on how our course is structured so I feel the guidance will become clearer for future years. Overall, apprenticeship programmes within the company are highly regarded and well organised in most cases.

Rolls-Royce are very supportive to apprenticeships with a lot of senior staff having come through the apprenticeship scheme themselves. We have a dedicated apprenticeship development leader who we can go to with questions regarding welfare etc. but it would be useful to have a business mentor assigned to us from the offset who is knowledgeable in project management.

The university supply good lectures and teaching materials. Although, I feel when it comes to assignments we don't always get clear explanations on what is wanted from our submission and feedback is brief and doesn't always help us strive for better marks in our next assignments. More regular feedback would have proved useful as well as model answers.

I feel that my degree gives me a clear well-rounded view of what it means to be a project manager and some of the key principles we would expect to see in our employer. However, I would say there is some misalignment in the way we are taught that things should be done and the way in which they are actually done within Rolls-Royce.

With Rolls-Royce being such a large company there are so many things to get involved with, whether that's volunteering opportunities, sports, networking events etc. There is also a Graduate and Apprenticeship association which you can join to meet other like minded people within the company and they do regular activities.

Yes

I would recommend Rolls-Royce to anyone that is interested in doing an apprenticeship. It is very well regarded and it is great to be able to say your have worked for Rolls Royce. It immediately makes people stop and think and would help you get other jobs in the future. There is also a lot of opportunities to move around departments within Rolls-Royce as well as gain promotions.

The assessment centre was no where near as scary as I thought it would be. Just be yourself. One of the best things I did was work experience at Rolls Royce prior to applying for the apprenticeship, which made it clear that I had previously been interested in working at Rolls Royce.