I think BMW is different from other companies because they look at the premium aspect of mobility and make sure that the cars they make are extremely high quality and that customers have an amazing experience. There’s a big movement in BMW Group to strive for sustainability across all aspects of the supply chain and after the cars have been sold, which sits well with my own thoughts about sustainability and the future.

As a Treasury Assistant Apprentice, I’m part of the Treasury team, which monitors the cash flow in and out of BMW's bank accounts. We also monitor the interest rates and our investments, and I personally report to various teams around the business to come help them adjust and review strategy. I love learning and I like the challenge of trying to wrap my head around new concepts at work and while I study – BMW has been great at helping me learn.         

My manager and colleagues support me all the time, especially when they know that I'm encountering a concept for the first time. Everyone's always happy to explain things, which is helpful. For example, I was having trouble understanding some of the concepts in one of the modules I was learning about, and my manager took the time to talk me through it and help me figure out how to understand what was going on – and a related question did come up in an exam, so that was very useful.

BMW Group also offer an apprentice development day, where you meet every apprentice in the country and you do team building exercises and get to know each other. It gives a sense of camaraderie with other apprentices, which is interesting and useful.

BMW Group have six diversity groups in Farnborough, spanning everything from racial diversity to LGBTQ to working parents. I’m involved in a new one that’s being set up based on gender diversity. I'm excited to work on the issues that people of different genders face in the workplace. BMW Group is very keen to make the workplace as equal for everybody as possible.

Coming straight from school has been a big shift. It can be quite daunting to have more responsibility for yourself and the quality of your work. But it's also fun to meet new people and do something that you enjoy and find interesting.

Dilly

Treasury Assistant Apprentice