Rating

8.8/10
  • 1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
  • Troubleshooting customer and partner issues with .NET Framework and Visual Studio.

    8/10

  • 2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
  • QA Qualification, NVQ Level 3 in Software Fundamentals. MTA exams, MCP exams. Learned so much knowledge over the first 3 months of the apprenticeship as I had to know everything in order to start taking cases.

    10/10

  • 3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
  • I love it. We are given complete responsibility in our roles as if we are full time employees. We are not treated any differently. As well as this we also get apprentice events etc. which normal employees don't! The only thing I would not say is good is the transition after the apprenticeship. This did not seem to be thought our very well and thus was very hard for us to move into a FTE role. However, we are the first Apprenticeship year so it was bound to happen.

    8/10

  • 4. How valued do you feel by Microsoft?
  • Very valued. Treated just the same as FTE.

    10/10

  • 5. How well organised/structured is your programme?
  • Average. Could have been better but again, we were the first year so bound to happen. I think the UR team have learnt a lot and we can already see this being applied to the new cohort of apprentices.

    7/10

  • 6a. How much support do you receive from your training provider?
  • QA were good. At the start I was very apprehensive as the assessor seemed very unorganised. However as the scheme progressed, I got used to this more and was able to gain as much support as I needed.

    7/10

  • 6b. How much support do you receive from your employer?
  • My manager and the UR team are great. Very supportive of what I want to do and genuinely care about my development.

    10/10

  • 7. How well does your salary/package meet your costs?
  • It is plenty, especially for an Apprentice.

    9/10

  • 8. Are there many opportunities outside of work?
  • We all get three volunteer days per year, as well as there being plenty of social clubs, events and other opportunities outside of my role. The apprentices all get on very well and have a great community.

    10/10

  • 9. Would you recommend Microsoft to a friend?
  • Yes


  • 9b. Why?
  • Taking this apprenticeship is the best thing I have ever done. As well as gaining 18 months of experience in a huge global company, we are given opportunities that other employees don't get. We also get the option to say in the role and the company and are encouraged to look throughout the business to see what else is out there.


  • 10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Microsoft?
  • Don't be fake. HR can see right through this and won't be fooled. Even if you get through, you are placed into a role judged on what you have displayed, therefore you wont enjoy what you are doing.


Details

Level 3 Apprenticeship

Information Technology

South West

February 2016


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