Procurement Apprentice Review

I am fortunate enough to be involved in various areas in the business including property, marketing and IT and this in a day can involve supplier engagements, market analysis research, negotiations, getting suppliers onboarded to our sourcing platform to onboard them and supporting in getting contracts signed and in place.

My excel skills have definitely got better and am looking to develop these further as time goes on. My communication skills have definitely improved and have to use this on a day to day basis when liaising with stakeholders and suppliers on different pieces of work. Managing multiple pieces of work at the same time along with studying so it is about using the time wisely and effectively.

The people in my department and my team have been great and really supportive from the day I started. They encourage us to get involved in many areas within the business to get the breadth and depth of my job role. It can sometimes be difficult to manage the workload but if there is a query or issue you have your manager or colleagues are there to support.

For my apprenticeship we have a day release for our course so our tutor can go through the content with us. We have a system where we keep a track of how many hours we have completed that can go towards gaining our apprenticeship one it is over. 20% of the working week should be course related.

My manager has been great and any issues or queries I have I will go and speak to him about them. We can contact the HR team to speak about this if we don't want to speak directly to our managers but the accessibility of support is there which is really important within the workplace.

We have a day release to revise and learn the course content from our training provider. It is great we have this as it really does help with completing our exams. Our tutor says we can email or call at any point if we require any support, so we know it is there if needed.

The qualification has definitely helped me performed better in my day-to-day job as the content learnt comes up in the workplace and that knowldge learnt can be applied to improve the skill and make the tasks easier. It works both ways as well as the the skills learnt in the job can make the exams simpler as you understand the content better.

Because of covid it has been difficult to set up any activities but we do not have which I am involved in at my work currently. Away from work I like to go running and play sports which I really enjoy. I meet up with friends and we'll go out for meals either locally or in the city.

Yes

The environment is one that is really welcoming and supportive. I have definitely benefitted from this which helped me settle in. The work is really diverse and that is a massive positive as you can experience what area suits you best. Additionally, Post Office is one of the most reputable orgnisations in the UK with over 11,500 branches nationwide so the company's reach in supporting the public is everywhere and to be a part of that is great.

It is difficult to be fully prepared for any type of apprenticeship you will be undertaking, however I’d say that for someone considering it at the Post Office, try to learn about the area as best you can because for the first week or two it can be a lot to take in as you are trying to understand the type of work you’ll be doing and also the ways of working suited to Post Office. This will lay the foundations to kick on and give you the confidence to feel that you know what you’re doing and are making good progress.