Colleague Communications Apprentice Review

As a Colleague Communications Apprentice my day begins with uploading any company news/videos/insights/updates on our global intranet. From this, I help monitor the analytics and data we get from that including views, reactions and general engagement. I also work closely with the Cyber Security and OGC teams supporting them engage colleagues by using different communications and channels to get different messages across to colleagues, as well as engaging them with any actions that may need to be taken from. As an apprentice, I've also been able to shadow various members of my team gaining further insight of the business and different roles/responsibilities within Corporate Affairs.

I began my apprenticeship at Sage straight from secondary school, so everything I have learnt has been new. I loved English at school and have been able to develop that, especially through writing, understanding it within workplace and real-world context. Through my apprenticeship I've learnt all about data and measurement and how data drives decision making in business, combined with my communications role I've learnt the importance of data storytelling and helping people understand what data means in order to support business growth.

My apprenticeship has enabled me to learn all about data and analytics, a topic I was completely new to when I started. I'm confident it will support me hugely throughout my career especially as understanding data is currently a sought after skill. As a communications apprentice, the only thing that made the programme slightly less enjoyable was that I struggles to relate the apprenticeship content to my role. Most of the tasks were based around context, for example using datsets internally to show different skills on excel. Whilst Colleague Communications use channel data, I found it was usually different to the numerical (typically sales) data used in my apprenticeship. This meant some of the excel formulas were harder to used in the context I had.

My apprenticeship with Multiverse had incredibly responsive, approachable coaches so this was usually easily resolved but as a new course there were a few issues around the organisations of upcoming content. This meant it was a little bit difficult to understand what was needed by when at times, but it really helped me develop my personal time management skills.

Sage are incredibly supportive, my team helped me to work on projects that supported my apprenticeship, meaning I could show the relevant skills in my epa and portfolio. The Early Careers team were also really supportive, enabling me to comfortably talk about my apprenticeship and ask any questions that I had.

My coaches at Multiverse were incredibly responsive when I had any questions, helping explain what was needed for the applicable project. For anything I needed some extra support with, they also recommended external resources that other apprentices had found helpful. For example, I struggled to understand a couple of Excel formulas where my coaches found short video tutorials or broken down step-by-steps to follow.

Understanding data, data storytelling and a good understanding of Excel are skills I find myself using almost daily. I've been able to create organisational spreadsheets, budget trackers through Excel, and been able to support my team by understanding what drives colleague engagement by looking at the channel data Colleague Communications track.

As an apprentice I've found I can build my understanding by collaborating and gaining insight from other teams, whether that be by connecting with other apprentices or supporting the Early Careers team with events. There's also the option to use 5 days a year to volunteer and support Sage Foundation where there are various opportunities to support charities.

Yes

I've had so many opportunities to learn and grow with Sage that I never would've had in the four walls of a classroom and met people as keen for me to learn as I am. Especially so early into my career, I would highly recommend Sage to anyone else in my position.

I found that doing a little bit of prior research of Sage before I applied (especially at the interview stage!) was really helpful and gave me some added support. You don't need to be fluent in Sage but understanding what they stand for, who they are and even how their values and goals align with your own is really helpful. For example, if you're passionate about volunteering have a look at Sage Foundation.