Supply Chain Management Apprentice Review

The apprenticeship is structured in a way that enables apprentices to rotate around different departments getting an in depth understanding of a wide variety of teams, mainly interacting with internal stakeholders. The main responsibility of the apprentice is to always ask if unsure and "no question is a silly question".

I have learned many new skills whilst being an apprentice. transferable skills such as communicating, organising, prioritising and analysing, but also bespoke qualifications such as Level 4 CIPS, APM fundamentals and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. With 5 months left of my apprenticeship I am looking to expand upon these.

The programme has had its ups and downs mostly due to external factors such as COVID-19. This forced many teams to work from home which provides a difficult challenge to apprentices who are then forced to learn through a virtual experience. The majority of the experience has been really enjoyable.

The initial model began in a structured way but was quickly impacted by the pandemic only 6 months into the programme. All of my training has been completed virtually and has been quite flexible to manage. We have experienced many line manager changes over the 3 years - 7 in total.

When within rotations, colleagues are extremely helpful and are willing to support the apprentice on tasks set. The apprentice management team has seen a significant re-org which has caused some disruption on line manager support, generally they have to be reached out to instead of them reaching into the apprentice.

CIPS have been really helpful in supporting me to achieve my qualification. The regular mentoring sessions seemed over the top in the beginning but bared fruit when coming to the end of the programme to enable reflection. Only criticism would be that there was only 2 virtual lessons per exam.

Throughout the qualification the theories and practices learnt have been relatable to work life. The theory I have learnt from other qualifications such as lean six sigma and project management has been put into practice when supporting the Project management team. I have also lead a number of smaller projects.

I participate with the works football team every week, which has really helped me build relationships both in and out of work. I have also been on a number of social events with colleagues. Outside of work I game and follow my local football team which is relatable to colleagues.

Yes

Babcock is such a huge and diverse organisation and if you dont find an area you enjoy first time around, there are plenty of business units, locations, and teams that may be more enjoyable that are accessible and are incentivised by the business. Babcock are always pushing to be better.

Advice that I would give to other applying to Babcock is to be open and honest of what your aspirations are. I would also suggest to give serious thought into a potential career path and share this with the employer early on to show your ambition and drive to improve.