Software Engineer Wealth CDIO Review

I've worked as an RPA developer, more recently an automation developer, developing automation solutions in UiPath, aiming to free up my colleagues from manual, repetitive work, for them to complete higher value tasks

I had no prior skills regarding software engineering, everything I've learnt has been either on the job or as part of my degree, with the majority being on the job. A fluency in a majority of the tech stack, soft interpersonal skills and behavioural development have been my greatest development.

I struggled with the Degree Apprenticeship side, QA weren't the most engaging provider and the teaching techniques were very inconsistent, ranging from a tutorial style, to a 'look at this powerpoint and learn' approach, the former I very much preferred but was uncommon. Day to day though, I absolutely adore my job. NatWest/Coutts have been a great company to work for.

The degree was very structured, but not massively well organised. My workplace experience however, wasn't very structured, but extremely organised. All my experiences in the workplace haven't followed a specific doctrine or rigorous structure, which allowed me to learn a variety of skills in a variety of settings.

I cannot fault the level of support I've had from NatWest, but specifically my line manager. Whilst we did, at times, go to the central apprenticeship team for support on issues, her support to me was more than enough to guide me through the apprenticeship. If I were rating the apprenticeship solely on NatWest and not also QA, I'd hands down be telling everyone to sign up for a degree apprenticeship here.

I had regular meetings with a skills coach, where we had a review process which offered no real value, despite his friendly tone and approach. I attended a majority of lectures, and all followed pretty much the same approach which I found not to be helpful: slides -> breakout -> discussion -> slides -> breakout. There was very little teaching and I primarily gained knowledge about the topics myself, which was very disappointing as I don't feel I had the opportunity to question any beliefs or knowledge I gained throughout the process, as the lecturers weren't always the most informed on the topic either.

There are specific modules, really just the Software Engineering modules that helped me in my role. Certain modules have completely exited my brain and school of thought, as no learnings apply to my day to day. If I were starting the apprenticeship in a rotation, trying to understand which area might be better for me, then perhaps the variety of modules could have suited me better, but as I have stayed in the same software engineering role since joining, there are only a few modules which suited mine and my team's needs.

There are plenty! I've not attended too many, but that was due to time. Now I've finished the apprenticeship, there are cohorts of graduates and apprentices everywhere, and plenty of opportunity for people to get involved and network.

Yes

It's been a great place for me to work, my managers have been great, I've been supported well throughout and given a number of opportunities to help me develop. The best part is that I've not felt like an apprentice in many ways - just like another member of the team.

I'd consider which degree scheme/training scheme you apply for. If you know already that you want to get into Software Engineering, try and pick an apprenticeship with a focus on that, rather than a broad spectrum IT degree. There are opportunities to change teams throughout the apprenticeship though, so on the flip side of that, don't feel like you have to shoehorn yourself into a role for 3-4 years, there is a lot of flexibility.