Project Management Degree Apprentice Review

I am a project manager which involves managing defence project for our customer the MoD, hosting meetings going through action trackers and the schedule to manage the project to cost, time and quality. A big part of the role involves chasing engineers and monthly reporting to higher management project progress.

I have learnt many skills including leadership, team working and innovation. These are skills i am now developing on during the managing of projects, I am responsible in networking throughout the apprenticeship and communicating with internal and external stakeholders, this has expanded my communication skills to different types of stakeholders.

I am glad that i chose this programme over going to University alone, i have been able to gain vast work experience due to moving to a different part of the business every month. I think it has been enjoyable learning project management and getting to know other apprentices, however it has been hard work.

It is structured well due to having yearly placements each year which start in September, however i think that it could be more organised as apprentices have to look for their own placement. We also have 12 week reviews with the early careers team and an EPA at the end of the apprenticeship, however each yera the university changes dates making it unstructured.

We receive a fair amount of support from the early careers team as well a sour line managers, there are more supportive managers than others. The early careers team is always there for help and queries about placements and 12 week reviews are a good opportunity to raise issues to them.

We go to the University of Portsmouth weekly, some modules are better than others as i have had modules where the lecturer is not interactive or does not turn up. The University are also quite unhelpful regarding the EPA as they change the dates and are unaware of what is actually happening even though i am about to go into my final year.

Some modules are helpful because they are project management related so you can understand more of the background to my work e.g. the PMQ gives you good knowledge of project management, the assignments also link to the workplace which allows us to ask questions about how we use the question in the workplace.

Yes we have to 20% of our hours in off-the-job, this involves enrichment activities which help us achieve skills not in the placement, this includes APM challenge and STEM events, you can get the opportunity to volunteer in schools to promote engineering and technology, this allows us to increase our networking.

Yes

I would recommend BAE because it is a great way to gain work experience in defence, there are so many exciting projects to be involved in and they are always adapting and evolving their innovations for the future. BAE are also very supportive by giving you mentors and becoming a part of different networks.

In the interview make sure to ask questions and show that you have looked up BAE Systems and you want to and are excited to work for them, ask about enrichment activities that you can get involved in and present yourself well. Be enthusiastic about learning a degree while gaining real world work experience.