Indirect Purchasing Apprentice Review

I'm a working alongside the Indirect buyers, their role is to buy non-production indirect good s for all of the UK and Ireland. On a day to day basis I process and negotiate orders with a value below 100k. Alongside this I have big involvement with the construction teams, dealing with tenders above 1 million pounds. Other jobs include creating negotiation minutes, schedule of rates and auditing small value orders to provide data for decision making.

I have learnt and developed countless skills in my role since joining in September. Key skills include time-management, resilience and communication. An area I always struggled with before joining was the confidence to communicate as I was too shy, I am now confident with delivering presentations to my colleagues and speaking to external suppliers in a efficient and effective manner through shadowing my colleagues. To be successful in this role I have also had to be resilient, at the start it was all very new and scary, I was afraid of making mistakes or saying the wrong thing. I have now taken these obstacles in my stride to develop a I can attitude. At times it has seemed tough but I have not given up and have turned any mistakes into lessons.

I thoroughly enjoy my programme, my apprenticeship is more than I could of ever expected. The best part is the countless opportunities it has provided both personally and professionally. With BMW there is lots of opportunities for career development with online learning courses, placements in other departments and site visits. There is also a great apprentice community with the Apprentice Newsletter, Charity Champions Team, SharePoint team and the Tiny Forrest imitative. Within my day to day work I never ever feel like a burden, I am given meaningful tasks and responsibilities and everyone around me is always willing to help and support me.

We had a formal induction which included time to go over policies, site tours and health and safety. My training provider is very well structured and organised, we have handbooks for all assignments and a calendar for the year. I am able to access all the support I need from both BMW and A&W quickly and efficiently, in the office but also remotely. I also have weekly 1-1 ones with my placement manager to discuss progress and one every three weeks with my training manager to discuss both uni and work progress. The amount of work I get given varies, but my team are flexible with giving me more or giving less to manage my workload. I have goals set quarterly which are reviewed with my training provider and placement manager.

My manger is very supportive of my progress, he's happy for me to take extra training courses and dedicates his time every week to manage my progress through 1-1's. He encourages me to get involved in all aspects of work in my department but also takes a keen interest in my uni work. He is also very understanding of my uni course, he's interested in what I know and looks for ways I can use my off the job training in my day to day role. The HR team are also very supportive, they keep close contact with my training provider to review my progress, look for ways to support me and explore how the course could be improved. Every one I have worked with so far has been welcoming, supportive and encouraging.

We have one to one's each semester with our tutor to review our progress and raise any concerns. Our tutor also does weekly drop in sessions to ask any questions, she also replies quickly via teams. There is a module handbook and a podcast explaining each assignment and module. I enjoy my uni course it is interesting and it's nice to network with other apprentices in the area, although at times the workload can be very full on, especially at the end of each semester

My qualification mostly educates me on other roles in the business rather than my own, but they can all be linked to BMW's overall goals. For example when we studied operations it was very department specific and I could apply the knowledge directly. However in other modules it's less specific and often the content is from the point of view from management. So later in life when I hope to become a leader or manger I will be able to apply the content but hard to apply as a new apprentice.

There are lot's of extra-curricular activities, such as: Apprentice newsletter, SharePoint team, charity champions, tiny Forrest, post 16 career fairs and open evenings. We also have a 'MINI Socials' which hold events for interns and apprentices to meet up outside of work, in the past we have done theme park trips, karaoke nights and weekends away.

Yes

By doing an apprenticeship at BMW you earn a competitive salary while learning from highly skilled associates. There is a great apprentice culture at BMW with lot's of chances to network, develop both personally and professionally and kick start you career. There is lot's to get involved with and everyday is different and exciting.

To someone who was planning to apply I would recommend them to get involved with as much as they can which will teach them key life skills that they can apply in the workplace. This may include paid work, volunteering and extra-curricular activities. Such as DofE, girls go technical, mentoring and house captains.