The role of a Commercial Apprentice is to gain depth and experience working in General Council, understanding the art of contract generation, negotiation and proactive interaction, whilst working directly with our Customers to maintain a strong relationship commercially.
Since joining the company in 2018, I have had the opportunity to work within the Europe Customer Regional Team, working with key Customers in the wide-body market, the Risk and Revenue Sharing Partners Team, being heavily involved with their On-Site Representatives and have spent the last 10 months in the Business Evaluations Team, working with our Sales Directors to generate evaluations for new deals.
I wouldn’t have been able to have these opportunities if it wasn’t for the schools I attended and the community around us. I always felt that University was the only option to get the career and degree I have always dreamed about…but this is not the case. With the initiatives led by Rolls-Royce in the community, I became aware of the opportunities of Early-Career schemes and I knew that this was the pathway for me. I want to give back to Rolls-Royce and the community for showing me that the traditional University path is not the only option so I became a STEM Ambassador.
Being a STEM Ambassador is not only of benefit for those attending the events, I believe it is equally as beneficial leading the events. I have developed my communication skills with external and internal partners, I have led teams of people, an experience I never felt at 19 years of age I would have had, and I have gained confidence in standing in front of large crowds of people and talking about my experiences. These invaluable skills will carry through to the end of my Apprenticeship and into my post-Apprenticeship career.
I believe that being a successful STEM Ambassador doesn’t mean you have encouraged 100 people to apply for Apprenticeships, I think being a successful STEM Ambassador is showing those individuals that the world is their oyster and finding the right pathway for them is the most important thing; if STEM is this pathway, that just adds to the success.