Finance apprentice
“The way the Finance programme is structured, you do different placements with different teams, rotating through the organisation over the course of your apprenticeship. It’s quite thoughtfully mapped onto your course content too, so that you’re sitting with people whose roles relate to what you’re learning at that time. It means they can give you context as you study for your exams too.
The team I’m sitting with at the moment is in Strategic Finance, where we’re implementing a new system across the business. Everyone’s supported me to get really involved with that in terms of helping to process-map and drive change. I’ve sat with people from around the entire organisation to map what they do, what they need, and build that into the next incarnation of the system.
"Everyone’s supported me to get really involved with the project in terms of helping to process-map and drive change."
I’ve also sat with teams in Billing and Accounts Payable, and that’s another perspective. There, you’re getting a really valuable insight on the bare bones of the organisation, really – the finances going in and out from day to day. I think this is one of the things that makes your work interesting here; that even when you’re in a relatively familiar area, it’s in a much more interesting context here because of the organisation’s work.
That’s the best part of the programme for me, honestly. You look at an invoice and it tells you something fascinating about a project at an embassy somewhere. It scales up everything you do; gives it more impact. You’re learning the same skills any accountancy or finance department would teach you, but now there’s an international angle. You’re supporting government.
"You’re learning the same skills any accountancy or finance department would teach you, but now there’s an international angle."
It’s a great combination for me. I always wanted to be a civil servant, and here I can get my professional accountancy qualification too. It’s a lovely environment to be in, and I get to be part of fascinating work that’s very socially relevant."
