Product Development Chartered Manager Degree Apprentice Review

I manage one of the lab facilities at Macclesfield, including finance and purchasing, change management, incident management, continuous improvement, training, and health and safety. I am the lead contact for all work in the building and working on the facilities strategy.

This year I have taken on my supervisors role after they left the company so I have had to step up into lots of new areas including leading people, communication, and developing my project management skills. I have also had to work on time management to handle doing both roles.

I enjoy my programme although it is very demanding. I have had to step up a lot in the past year to backfill positions which has been very rewarding and allowed me to develop. It can be a lot to try complete all my work whilst doing my degree.

The university work doesn't always relate to my job and there isn't really the flexibility to explore wider opportunities due to the demands of my role. The apprenticeship team as a whole are good at providing opportunities but it relies on individual departments agreeing to the apprentice attending.

There is less support now that I am further into my degree, if I needed it I would know where to look. Often my university work is forgotten by my employer so there is less support on that side.

I receive good support from my training provider, particularly for my dissertation. The in person time on my course plays a huge part in being able to access the support needed face to face.

A lot of the concepts apply to my role but with the broad range of modules in my degree sometimes they are not relevant. Some of the tools are also not practical in a real setting but the principles can be applied.

Yes, there is an apprentice social society which organises a range of events for different people's preferences. There is also a great place to work team in my department who organise social events. The Macclesfield site has one large event each year at Christmas.

Yes

Although very demanding I am grateful for the opportunities I have had which I would not get elsewhere. The community between apprentices is nice to be a part of. I feel challenged at work which makes my job rewarding.

It is as much about the person as it is about academics, people look for someone who will work well with the team. It is a demanding work environment but if you are willing to put in the work it will give great development and growth,