My Apprenticeship Blog:
Series 4

I have now been working in the siteworks area of the business for three months which has been very different to my previous positions within customer services and finance. I have really enjoyed it. It is a more technical department, where industry knowledge is important, so there is lots to learn, however I do feel like I am now understanding more about it.

I started by just marking up the inbox and doing simple emails, however now I am able to work on the siteworks jobs with our supplier and process new connections/ disconnections independently. I am supported by our siteworks lead, Louise, and I support her by processing as many incoming emails as I can, and mark up all emails that come in so anyone else who works in the inbox can easily see what’s coming in. Inbox management may sound trivial but is important to the efficient running of the department. I also sit in on any siteworks calls we have with customers, but also the weekly call with our supplier. Now that I understand more, I find it easier to participate in this, as I can ask about jobs I am working on.

I still go to college once every month. We have recently been going through what will happen in the end assessment and figuring out what gaps I have that may need work. For the end point assessment, I will need to complete a knowledge test, a portfolio and a presentation. These will be judged on the skills, knowledge and behaviours I have developed. The knowledge test will be around 40 minutes long and will be personalised to my work. I have started to work on my portfolio, which involves collecting all the evidence I have of the skills needed to pass my business administration apprenticeship.

I have started to write this in MS Word, so I can also add screenshots for evidence, and will use my witness statements from my line manager as well. Finally, the presentation is a project about a process or operating practice i have improved, and I will need to list the scope of the project, the planning and managing involved, communication to various individuals and stakeholders and how the monitoring and results reporting will take place. I am still thinking about what I can do for this part of the assessment as I want to ensure that it is a good example that is interesting for the assessors to read.

I am still supporting the WME finance department alongside my work in the siteworks team. I enjoy this as I feel like I have really developed my skills in this area and can now do the processes easily. I do the receipts every morning, which is a good way to start the day as it gets me thinking! I also do the debtors emails every fortnight. Although the email has a set structure, this is still challenging as I have to navigate our finance system, but also emails to match who has paid, and when. Doing these two tasks has given me great experience of WME’s finance system, Sage, and I can now navigate this comfortably.

Over the last couple of months, within the siteworks team, I feel like I have really developed my technical knowledge of the energy industry. I have learnt so much, and I am now more confident in managing queries independently.

That said, moving into a different part of the business has also helped me realise what I need to work on. Siteworks is mainly about problem solving, so although I feel like this may be one of my weaknesses, I am working on improving this. Also, siteworks is very busy and there is always more jobs to do, so this has also helped me with my time management.

Thank you for reading, keep an eye out for my next blog!