Future Leaders Degree Apprentice Review

I have completed 3 placements out of my 8 so far with them being in customer services, marketing and supply chain. You constantly get to learn about the roles and processes of each department and understanding what they do and why they're important for the business. Once I am more integrated into the team and develop my knowledge I start to take on more responsibility and perform tasks that other colleagues do which is really good to do because it's getting to learn the job as you do it which is a great way to learn.

Since joining, I have learnt many new skills because of the different job roles that I have already undertaken so far. Some of the major skills I have developed have been communication, presenting, confidence, decision making, creativity and analysing to name a few. I can already notice how far I have come already and look forward to gaining and developing more skills along my journey.

I really enjoy this programme a lot! I've always wanted to do an apprenticeship and when I saw the job advert I knew it would be a great opportunity for myself. Before joining E.ON, I had the opportunity to work with senior leadership and therefore seeing the future leaders scheme I knew it was for me. There are also many other apprentices so it is nice to meet new people and relate to one another. I also love being able to do different placements and get a good overview of the business from different perspectives.

It is a really well structured scheme, where you are given your first placement to start you off and then you get to choose what department you want to go into next so it is very flexible to suit your needs. They are 6 month placements which in total you do 8 rotations so there is plenty of room for learning and development. There are also structured apprenticeship days put together by us apprentices to help develop each others skills and knowledge about the business.

I receive a lot of support from E.ON, they have so many fantastic people I can reach out to throughout the business and the beauty of the scheme is getting to network with so many colleagues and build so many relationships with people you know you can rely upon if you need any support. They have dedicated talent consultants that look over the apprentices and provide all the support you could ask for.

I study my degree at Derby University and it started off quite hard as it was new for all of us, but overall I have really enjoyed the degree so far and my current lecturer, who I have had for a few modules now, has been so supportive and helpful in allowing me to aim for the best grades possible and is always on hand for any questions I have.

The qualification really helps me to perform well in my role because we get to learn about the theory in so much detail and understand why this is the case. We can then learn about methods and try to put together how this would work for myself at E.ON and what I can be doing in order to bring this into my work and be as successful as the theory.

As apprentices we take it in turn to put on days where we get to learn more about placement opportunities, different parts of the business and understand what people are doing in their roles. It is a great way to get to know each other more and build up our relationships as a collective. We also regularly plan activities outside of work to get to know each other on a much more personal level which is really helpful to build those relationships.

Yes

The structure is so well organised and they know exactly how to develop apprentices and keep us on the right track for success. It is a really flexible working environment with really approachable colleagues that are more than happy to help us learn and develop. We also get the privilege of earning a salary and have a degree paid for at the same time which is really enjoyable.

My advice would be talk about your skills and wat you bring to the table, but also what experience you have to back up what you're saying and having multiple scenarios you can relate to. Be passionate and enthusiastic to learn more about the business and even going above and beyond to research a bit more about the company and what we do, which will show initiative and eagerness to learn.