Business Apprentice Review

Item: Business Apprentice at BMW Group UK
Rating: 4.6
Author: Anonymous

at BMW Group UK

Degree Apprenticeship

Finance

Oxford

Review Submitted: April 2024

Overall Rating

4.6 /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 - Overview of Role

5/5 - Skills Development

4/5 - 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

In my apprenticeship I am a business apprentice but my main department is financial controlling. This means day to day I work in finance. My main responsibility is to plan the budgets and forecasts for the Human Resources department. I also run reports for different financial KPIs such as time per unit. As well as doing my placements in finance, I have also worked in production steering and HR with more placements planned for the future.

To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

5/5

I really enjoy my apprenticeship. My manager is really supportive as well as the rest of my team and other people I have met. I think when at work having friendly faces around the workplace makes the job even more enjoyable. There are so many apprentices here so you can still meet other young people and I have met lots of new friends.

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

5/5

Yes, I have learnt lots of new skills. Since working at BMW I have learnt how to use excel and also SAP systems. As well as these computer skills I have also developed my presentation, confidence and communication skills too and have noticed a huge development since I started the role.

Structure and Support

How well organised/structured is your programme?

5/5

The structure of the programme is organised by my training advisor, as here at BMW there is a team of apprenice managers who support apprentices. It is my training advisors job to organise my placements and she has been great at doing this. I have a plan of where I am going up until the end of my apprenticeship so I know what is coming up.

How much support do you receive from your employer?

4/5

There is lots of support available. As mentioned in the last question there is my training advisor who schedules 1-1s with me every 3 months but is also always available if I require additional support. As well as this my line manager has always been very supportive of me and my development.

How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?

3/5

My tutor at college is very helpful at giving us feedback on work to help us improve our marks. We also had 1-1 appointments with our tutor, but these seem to have stopped in year 2. However, I know that if I needed extra support they would be happy to sit down with me for as much or as little as I need. Some of the teachers provide less support than others so it would be helpful if they all offered as much as each other to ensure consistency throughout the modules.

How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?

3/5

I believe that the knowledge we gain in some aspects helps me with my role. But a lot of the modules are in areas that I don't cover at work therefore don't particularly help me. Some of our modules require us to do presentations which I believe has been helpful at improving my confidence with presenting which will help me in my job.

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

Yes there are many extra-curricular activities. There are two main apprentice-led groups: Charity team and Newsletter team. In the charity team, apprentices organise/ plan events to raise money for charity, The newsletter team produces monthly newsletters which share what apprentices have been getting up to across all UK BMW sites (Oxford, Swindon, Goodwood, Hams Hall and Farnborough). In the summer I have also been involved in an apprentice/intern netball group which we do after work.

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend BMW Group UK to a friend?

Yes

Why?

I would recommend BMW Group as an apprenticeship employer based on the great experience I have had so far. They offer a vast amount of programmes at different levels and with great salary and benefits such as a car scheme. The support is good too which improves the experience for me.

What tips or advice would you give to others applying to BMW Group UK?

I would recommend researching the BMW Group and have knowledge about what the plants do and know reasons about why you would like to work for them. Try and show that you are keen to learn new things and that you have good communication skills. I would also recommend preparing for examples of when you have shown certain attributes/skills in your interview questions.

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