General Management Degree Apprentice Review

During my first placement I worked entirely from home due to Covid, it was in Network Sponsorship. This role essentially managed different projects in different boroughs of London. I would log in around 9am and catch up on emails from the day before. Afterwards I would have a weekly catch up with my manager where they would tell me what work I have to do today, it was varied work. Sometimes I would have to write up public documents on projects we were doing in specific borough assessing the impact on the community, other times I would be making presentations or updating excel spreadsheets

As this was my first placement, it really helped me learn & understand behaviour in a professional environment, especially coming straight from school. It taught me about email etiquette and what is expected of me at work. This placement specifically also taught me about stakeholders management as we were in constant communications with different boroughs & external stakeholders to discuss our plans.

I enjoyed the programme because it was a big change from what I was used to in school. The new professional environment was exciting and people were friendly. However, working from home meant I couldn’t meet anyone and I didn’t feel like I really integrated in the team

The apprenticeship scheme as a whole is really well structured. Every 6 months we’re moved into different areas of TfL to get an understanding of all departments, including both office work and operational work. In the last 2 years of the apprenticeship scheme this becomes more relaxed and you have more control over what type of placements you want to do and for how long.

In my experience, my employer has provided a lot of support. We received desk equipment from TfL to make sure we are comfortable working from home, including a desk chair, laptop, keyboards, headphones etc. This made me feel really valued as an employee. In meetings mental health and regular breaks are also really encouraged, so I feel very supported

We receive a lot of support from Pearson College London. Our lecturers are always available for questions before our seminars and student services are also quick to reply to an issues. A weekly Q&A session is held on Friday by our mentor to clear up any confusion or answer any questions about our degree and how it works. We also fill out a time sheet to make sure that as apprentices at least 20% of our time goes towards our qualification & studying.

I think the theory we learn in our degree is really applicable to the day to day work we do. For example, learning about financial statements by our learning provider made it easier to understand the budgeting in our company and helps to spot any issues or areas for improvement

Our company has it’s own form of social media which is a lot more relaxed than regular emails. This gives people the chance to post and engage in more casual topics. TfL also holds a coffee roulette arounds different departments where you’re paired with a random employee to have ‘have coffee’ together and meet to encourage more networking. The Graduate and Apprentice community also has many virtual site visits.

Yes

In my experience, TfL is a great place to work because the organisation really cares about their employees. You’re encouraged to speak about any issue and the help needed is always given. For the General Management Scheme in particular, it’s really beneficial that you get to move around different areas of TFL before deciding where exactly you want to go.

My best advice would be to adapt your CV to match TfL’s values and policies, which are found online. I would also advise to really revise the information packs given before the interview so you are familiar with the organisation and their goals so you appear eager and interested to learn in the interview