Early Careers Apprentice Review

I manage the early careers inbox which receives a lot of queries throughout the day from current trainees at our firm, future applicants and internals. I am currently screening video interviews for the training contract's at the Manchester office. I also get involved in the apprenticeship side, recently I have been organising interviews for apprenticeships in different offices.

I have learnt many new skills. I am constantly expanding my understanding of Excel. There is so much to learn with this software. I have also developed my communication skills as I have had to call schools up to get an up to date point of contact for us to build a relationship with. I have also had to call applicants up to offer them an interview.

I am really enjoying it so far. It is defiantly what I expected. I get a lot of responsibility and trust from my team. However, I do feel like I am really missing out on the social side as everyone works from home. I come into the office once a week however due to it being a big office and only a few people in, I don't have a convocation or get to know anyone.

My program is very structures. I have my 20% off the job learning every Wednesday afternoon however I can move this around If I have something important to do with work. I am given a clear plan with my objectives from my coach who passes it on for my manager to see. This means she can see what I need to develop.

I receive a huge amount of support.I have daily calls with my team where we talk about capacity and what we have on. This allows my manager to understand what I have on. We also use teams, this is a really easy way for us to communicate and support each other.

My coach arranges a group coaching session half way through the course where he explains what exactly we have to do. He also calls me after I have completed my work for him to give me feedback. My coach is very easy to contact as I have his phone number and email address.

My qualification provides learning on all areas of business. This is extremely useful as all the skills I use are transferable to all areas of my team. I also learn how to better my performance through time management, saying no due to capacity and how to coach and help others.

My firm has a huge amount of extra things to get involved in. Due to corona I have missed out on a lot of the social elements however, me and the other apprentices in my office arrange to come in on the same day and often go out for food. The wider team are also currently planning a group activity for our 2 days a year we get off for volunteering.

Yes

Irwin Mitchell is an extremely welcoming place to work. They have made the best of the current situation and still ensures everyone stays in contact online through HR brunch calls and Monthly catch-ups. [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], who is the apprenticeship manager, has done an amazing job by arranging calls with all the apprenticeships to see if there is any issues or anything he can chase up. I have made some really nice friends through my apprenticeship.

My biggest tip is to just apply for the role even if you are not confident and still debating university. If you get invited to an interview make sure your personality comes across and you are relaxed, as hard as that can be. The interviewers are likely to be from the team you will be going into , therefore they want to see your personality and humor as you will be working together.