Project Management Degree Apprentice Review

My day-to-day role involves meetings with project teams, talking with engineers, speaking to the royal navy, keeping account of the project actuals and forecasted spends, creating schedule and creating reports for other contract bids. Some days I get to have meetings in different offices or get to go onboard a T45 Destroyer.

I have learnt how to close a project, the project lifecycle, how to schedule, how to use excel, how to use SAP, how to manage a project and how Radars work from an engineering perspective. I have developed existing skills such as team work, collaboration, people skills and general Microsoft Office skills.

I find the programme interesting and there is always someone around to help. I feel that I am constantly learning throughout my apprenticeship whether than be in placement or at university. There are loads of opportunities available to develop your skills outside of the placement through stretch assignments. Overall, I would recommend this apprenticeship.

My programme is well structured as my week is structured well and stays the same e.g. placement/work from Monday-Thursday and then every Friday is a University day. There are skills coaches available as a point of contact and we have monthly meetings with them to discuss any issues or changes.

My employer is very supportive. There is support available in terms of skills coaches who I can speak to regularly if I have concerns, my placement managers or University staff such as lecturers or mental health staff. In addition, we also have access to a free employee assistance programme which can also provide support if needed.

Our training provider (University of Cumbria) is very helpful when it comes to university. They always provide help during assignment season by allowing us to ask questions. They also do feedback forms after each lecturer so we can feed back any concerns that we may have. Overall, the university staff are supportive.

I find that my qualification (Project Management Degree) helps me to perform better in my role as what I am learning relates to what I am doing at work. In addition, our training provider (University of Cumbria) also gets us to think about how what we are learning relates to the workplace.

Yes, there are many extra curricular activities to get involved with at work. We have many stretch assignments such as STEM Event, Competitions, going into schools, career fairs, mini projects within the company and more. We also have monthly apprentice social events such as laser tag, bowling etc. We also get emailed about talks or conferences available.

Yes

BAE Systems is a great place to work. They are inclusive and always want to listen to apprentices. They provide excellent support and source the best education providers. There is always an opportunity to stretch yourself and develop new skills. There are also many company benefits such as private health care, shares scheme, free counselling etc.

My tips or advice would be to: see what BAE is doing in the news, research the company, be yourself, make any experience relevant to the apprenticeship you are applying for, ask questions, sell yourself to the interviewer and make sure to submit any paper work they ask you to on time/when they ask for it.