Level 6 General Management Apprentice Review
at Transport for London
Degree Apprenticeship
Business Operations
London
Review Submitted: May 2021
Overall Rating
5 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
5/5
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Overview of Role
5/5
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Skills Development
5/5
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Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
5/5
during my four year scheme I do 8 6 month placements in different areas of the business that involve management of some sort. At the moment I am in London Underground Business Strategy managing how we can change case management culture to mean there are less formal cases e.g. grievance cases submitted when they are less serious issues, so that we can make more time for more serious issue.
In each placement you will have the chance to manage a project like the one one i have detailed above. It is great experience!
Once a week on Friday I attend university to do my Business Management Degree.
In each placement you will have the chance to manage a project like the one one i have detailed above. It is great experience!
Once a week on Friday I attend university to do my Business Management Degree.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
5/5
To a huge extent. I didn't really know what elements of business I wanted to go into and TfL have allowed me to explore so many different areas from operational roles, to property management, lots of roles that you don't realise a transport company can facilitate. it has made me open my eyes more to the world of work and not just take a company for its face value.
there is a fantastic network for graduates and apprentices and I'm an one of the leads in the committee that supports this network to meet up and have social events. I have made many and close long term friends from the process who will also support me in my career in the future.
TfL also support me thoroughly with my university, giving extra study leave on top of our Fridays off to accommodate you to get the best results possible.
there is a fantastic network for graduates and apprentices and I'm an one of the leads in the committee that supports this network to meet up and have social events. I have made many and close long term friends from the process who will also support me in my career in the future.
TfL also support me thoroughly with my university, giving extra study leave on top of our Fridays off to accommodate you to get the best results possible.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
5/5
I have learnt many different skills as well as build on ones that i have started to develop during my Levels: Financial skills, project management, Operational Strategy, presentation skills, Collaboration, customer service, Forecasting, digital technology, teamwork, organization, programme management and many others.
All the skills that we learn relate directly to skill we need to tick off on our CMDA standard at university that allows us to become chartered managers.
All the skills that we learn relate directly to skill we need to tick off on our CMDA standard at university that allows us to become chartered managers.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
5/5
very well organised. There is a board of people will different roles such as placement coordinators, training and developments leads ect who all facilitate different sections of our scheme meaning everything is delivered on-time, communicated immediately and to an impeccable standard as one person is not doing everything.
individually each apprentice gets a personal sponsor/manager what will be with them for the whole duration of their scheme and they are a point of contact for any queries and issues as well as your progress. They feed information straight away back to the board and i can always rely on my sponsor to clear up any confusion.
individually each apprentice gets a personal sponsor/manager what will be with them for the whole duration of their scheme and they are a point of contact for any queries and issues as well as your progress. They feed information straight away back to the board and i can always rely on my sponsor to clear up any confusion.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
5/5
Lots of support- they give us extra study leave for university as well has the friday off so we can complete our studies to the best of our ability
They give us support in finding placements that interest us rather than putting us in a placement of their choice.
We all as apprentices have our own sponsor that manages us throughout our time on the scheme that helps us to set challenging objectives for ourselves and to review our performance.
They give us support in finding placements that interest us rather than putting us in a placement of their choice.
We all as apprentices have our own sponsor that manages us throughout our time on the scheme that helps us to set challenging objectives for ourselves and to review our performance.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
5/5
they give us extra study time on top of our 20% off the job training, they lease with Pearson college to assure that we are getting the correct quality of teaching if a complaint has been raised.
they encourage us to pick topics/ write about TfL in our assessments and utilise our connections at work to facilitate our studies.
they work in partnership, not separately.
they encourage us to pick topics/ write about TfL in our assessments and utilise our connections at work to facilitate our studies.
they work in partnership, not separately.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
5/5
TfL have picked modules at Pearson college that relate closely to the type of work and placements on offer that TfL. this means I can utilise knowledge from uni in my work almost every day. for example, I did a finance module at uni and now I am working on Tfl's long term capital plan, managing a section of it myself. Clearly there has been a lot of thought into what degree would best support the nature of the apprenticeship at work and vice versa.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
5/5
there are sports teams such as the netball and football teams. there are professional networking events run onec a month my the graduate and apprentice committee which involve speakers from the wider business. there also sperate events nearly every week such as site visits to disused tube stations and talks about places to volunteer. there are social events regular after university in which many people attend to get to know each other. it is a very close knit community of graduates and apprentices.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Transport for London to a friend?
Yes
Why?
You aren't just an number at tfL, they genuinely care about you development, shown through the personalised care by having an individual manager throughout the process.
There is a great community of graduates and apprentices that support one another to find placements, have social events and genuinely become friends with. this si something people worry they will miss out on if they do an apprenticeship instead of Uni, but at TfL this is certainly not the case.
You get to do fantastic roles which you are given full responsibility and autonomy of such as managing large pojects. Apprentices are so well regarded and respected at TfL- people are often fighting to have one in their team! You definitely aren't just making the tea!
There is a great community of graduates and apprentices that support one another to find placements, have social events and genuinely become friends with. this si something people worry they will miss out on if they do an apprenticeship instead of Uni, but at TfL this is certainly not the case.
You get to do fantastic roles which you are given full responsibility and autonomy of such as managing large pojects. Apprentices are so well regarded and respected at TfL- people are often fighting to have one in their team! You definitely aren't just making the tea!
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Transport for London?
be yourself- they aren't looking for the person who has the most experience. they are looking for someone with charisma, who can work with others and who has the willingness to learn and put themselves forward in order to gain more experience. they are looking for someone with dedication and time management in order to study and work at the same time.
You will be asked to do verbal reasoning/ situational analysis tests, then a video interview and then an assessment centre after you submit your interest.
You will be asked to do verbal reasoning/ situational analysis tests, then a video interview and then an assessment centre after you submit your interest.
