General Administrator Review

I perform all administration for a software development, including (but not limited to) running payroll, administrating various employee benefits, handling tax reporting requirements, managing office health and safety, liaising with building managers and contractors, managing utilities accounts, onboarding new starts and offboarding leavers, planning events, and managing our legal requirements under GDPR and other relevant employee legislation.

I've certainly developed a lot on my existing skills (data protection is always presenting new challenges, especially for a UK company with US-based head offices), but I've learned many new things. In particular, HIPAA (American legislation governing medical data) was brand new ground, as was event planning and management. I also had minimal experience in utilising Outlook to its full potential, which I feel I do significantly better now, especially as a time management tool since lockdown and long-term homeworking.

I was employed by Brightree before the apprenticeship started, so I was already very comfortable in my role and working with my managers. Since undertaking the programme, I've found it integrates well into my role and finding proof of applied practices hasn't been too much of a challenge, but it's the invaluable support of everyone at QA - especially [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] - that's really made it a satisfying and enjoyable experience.

Extremely - I would probably still be working on it now if it weren't for the assessors keeping me on track and in line with regular check-ins to discuss where I am and what I should be working on, and setting deadlines for module completion. Although the E-Track system can be a bit confusing, it's all being well recorded and I had confidence that I was being kept on track.

My employers were fantastic. It was a boon to them, since they already employed me and my course was fully funded, so they were more than happy to provide whatever I needed, including putting time aside so my manager and I could get together to discuss the PDP aspects. I was also amazed by the support of other managers, including leaders in the InfoSec teams, who were infinitely patient with my endless requests for policy and process documents.

QA were utterly fantastic. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] kept me on schedule and helped me understand what the modules required of me, and went above and beyond to provide extra resources. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] ran a fun and engaging week-long lab (done over Zoom due to Covid) and was thoroughly knowledgeable about the subject and patient with my questions.

Infinitely - a significant portion of my role involves managing data processing and storage, and knowing the best infosec practices better enables me to make smart decisions when it comes to storing and transferring employee data. Especially with everything becoming even more digitised in light of large-scale homeworking, there have been plenty of new challenges in the infosec world, and this gives me the context and confidence to make the right choices and defend them if required.

We regularly get involved in teambuilding or industry events, including sponsoring Hackathons and running office cooking competitions. We've previously got involved in sporting events for charity, including in 2019 when we competed in a five-a-side football game to raise money for Marie Curie, and run a gym membership subsidy scheme to encourage the health and fitness of employees. Additionally our parent company has recently started running a Book Club and runs other networking events and opportunities, including membership for employees with the Technology Institute of Georgia.

Yes

It has great employee benefits, pays reasonably and I have confidence in the leadership teams at all levels. It's small enough that you get the benefits of a small company (like getting to know everyone in the office) but as a subsidiary of a much larger company there's security in your position. Additionally, our parent company works in the healthcare industry supplying technology and software solutions for healthcare providers, so it's a good industry to be in with the current global pandemic.

Be honest and sell yourself; plan to explain what you can do for the company, and not just answer questions. Don't be offput by silence in the office; the main communication methods are virtual (e.g. Teams), even when you sit two seats away from someone, so though it can appear antisocial everyone is actually chatting together all day, just not out loud.