Content Writer Review

Overall, I have had a very positive experience working at Wren Kitchens. I work with an incredible team of hardworking and pleasant individuals and taking on this role allowed me to move into a new sector from my previous position as a primary school teacher. I have learnt a lot about a wide variety of topics and it has greatly increased my skillset in writing different materials for a range of audiences. Additionally, I applied to complete a Level 3 Content Creator apprenticeship 6 months into the role which my line manager was very supportive of. She ensured I had allotted time every week to complete my work and gave me opportunities to apply my skills in the workplace. While this apprenticeship benefited my role, allowing me to support our graphic designers and videographers by developing my content creation skills, it also allowed me to accomplish a personal aim of developing my graphic design abilities. This was all at no cost to me and I greatly appreciate that Wren gave me this opportunity.

As the content writer for the Online Learning Team, it is my responsibility to meet with stakeholders to find out the requirements for new training projects, undertake research either independently or with the assistance of subject matter experts, and then write training materials that meet the objectives of the stakeholders. This primarily takes the form of eLearning modules, training guides, and video scripts. I then provide the content to our team of graphic designers and videographers, who create the visuals to accompany the written content. I then review the completed content, checking for spelling, punctuation, grammar, and cohesion, before sending to the stakeholders for final sign-off.

As the content writer, a large amount of our training material begins with me, so it allows me to contribute greatly to our team. I have been given responsibility for writing high-importance training materials, such as our Winter Sales training, and regularly receive praise during the working week and at quarterly reviews. I would like to apply the skills I have gained from my apprenticeship more often, but my line manager is now giving me some opportunities alongside my current workload.

The Specsavers eyecare voucher is very good as it greatly reduced the cost of my glasses and paid for my last eye test.
We have a gym at work and access to a lovely lake walk, both of which are beneficial for physical and mental health.
The salary could be better as it does not pay a great deal more than minimum wage for a full-time position and the pay scales are changed annually, making it hard to have consistency in pay increases.

I think this role has greatly paved the way for my future career. I would like to continue expanding my skillset so I can move from content writer to instructional designer or take on some form of training management. By being allowed to complete the content creator apprenticeship, I have gained valuable skills that I could not have gained elsewhere, at least not without having to incur the costs myself.

My manager is incredibly supportive, and during my apprenticeship, she especially made sure that I had plenty of time to complete my training, without having to go into out-of-work hours. We have discussed my ambitions for development several times and she has helped wherever possible. The only way Wren could improve would be to have more opportunities for development. While we create many training resources, there are not many opportunities readily available to develop new skills unless you research and find them yourself, and there aren't a lot of ways to develop in your role. Being able to go on more courses or undertake more CPD would be great.

My work-life balance is excellent. I have never had to complete any work outside of hours, my line manager is particularly adamant on that.

From my experience, the culture has been very positive. My team are wonderful, my manager is incredibly supportive, and the people I work with across the departments have been consistently pleasant and helpful. I feel comfortable contacting stakeholders far senior than me, sometimes even at Director level, and know that I will get pleasant and professional responses.
The remote working is quite limited, only allowing for one day working from home a week, and they implement a very strict monitoring programme on your work laptop. More days and more trust would definitely benefit the company, especially for employees who have to pay bridge tolls every day to cross the Humber Bridge and back. That being said, they are flexible with the single day and will, on occasion, allow an additional working from home day to support colleagues, e.g. appointments, car MOTs, illness, etc.

I would say the company has made efforts to support people from all backgrounds with all manner of needs. No one is turned away and we follow our PRIDE (Passionate, Responsible, Integrity, Determined, Excellence) values. They also put on an annual Wren family day where friends and family can come and visit free of charge and enjoy entertainment, food, and explore the work we do at Wren.

Yes

I would say Wren Kitchens is a good employer and definitely helps people grow and learn. It is especially great if you are looking to transition to a new career, as they are willing to take chances on people, even if they don't have all the required experience or skills yet.

It matched it exactly as described.