Commercial Finance Apprentice Review

I joined a finance team & overall, my role was to support the team I worked in as well as provide financial insight to the Brand teams I worked alongside. Some of the daily tasks included accompaniment & engagement in meetings, working on new/existing product development, data analysis, financial reporting & much more.

I learnt & developed many skills: my analytical skills have greatly improved as I was often required to look out for anomalies & ensure accuracy. My communication & collaboration skills have also developed as it was a very important part of my role, I would attend & occasionally contribute to many discussions. A new skill I learnt was working confidently with different software such as the basic MS tools also SAP ERP, SAP BusinessObjects & Pyramid.

I enjoyed the programme because I learnt a lot & I was able to develop many skills during the apprenticeship. I found it particularly interesting to see how the company plans out their projects behind the scenes.

It was well organised to some extent. I enjoyed the day-to-day roles & was given a lot of support when I was joined the team however in terms of me understanding my expectations, this wasn’t made particularly clear to me at the start & came a while after I joined.

When I joined I was given some time to settle in, I had access to LinkedIn learning which introduced me to new software skills. I was given a mentor & would have fortnightly chats with about the role, settling in & any advice. As part of the apprenticeship I was given time off to study which helped me balance out work & study.

The programme from the study perspective was quite straightforward, I would have weekly sessions for a module & when ready, have the exam. A lot of resources were given & online there were many courses to improve understanding of the topics.

It provided me with more understanding of how the company works & quite often, I revisited them when doing my day-to-day roles. With better understanding, it ensured more proficiency in my role.

There were quite a few extra curricular activities to get involved in. They ranged from social events such as lunches, dinners to charity days etc.

Yes

Working in a big & well-established company means there is opportunity to learn & develop your skills set in order to excel in a professional capacity. Furthermore, there’s opportunity for career development & progression. I found when I was there, people aim to work to the best of their ability which is an important quality to be around especially when starting your career as it encourages you to do the same.

An important thing to consider is that it is a fast-paced company so personal responsibility is crucial. Furthermore, ensuring alignment about your progress with the assigned line manager is also important to ensure no misunderstandings as this could potentially impact overall development & understanding of the role.