Application testing apprentice Review

I work on the rolls Royce account and my role is incident management support. Daily tasks involve reports and assigning incidents and carryout out service requests for users. I interact with customers on a daily basis and I am responsible for making many accounts for them across different applications.

I have learnt a lot on the apprenticeship. I will be achieving an ITIL qualification and have learnt about programming and use of applications. Additionally I have developed skills in terms of talking to customers and fulfilling their needs. I have learnt how to use applications to add, remove, modify users and other.

I really enjoy the programme. I enjoy where I work as the team all accepted us as equal even though we are apprentices. The company culture is also great, with lots to be involved in and benefits.. like Easter eggs!:) The programme over exceeded my expectations! and I really enjoy it and what I do on a day to day basis.

I feel very valued as we managed to raise the SLA target from meeting at 80! to 99%!. Since we joined we have managed to stop HPE from getting penalized for missed SLAs and have been recognized with cards for this. However no recognition points :( I feel like we (the 3 apprentices) have been a great difference in terms of SRs and therefore feel we are valued by both rolls Royce and HPE as we have had many emails for RR staff thanking us for the quick work, which didn't happen before we joined!

I think the programme is okay in terms of structure but not amazing. The induction process seemed to drag and we didn't seem to learn anything about what the apprenticeship would entail, especially in the second year as we have no idea about that!. I think the training received through QA is useful and is a nice break out of work to develop skills. I think the programme wasn't that well organized but I enjoy the one-to-ones with my manager who allows us to discuss with him what we would like to do in the future and how he can help us achieve that.

I feel like we receive suitable support from our training provider (qa). They always make sure any queries we have are solved and any problems we have they discuss this with the employer (HPE). I enjoy the support we receive from them. One thing however was that a course was changed at the last minute and we ended up doing a pointless level 3 course when we are on a level 2 apprenticeship..

My people manager gives us a lot of support, having regular one to ones to make sure we are handling the work okay and ensuring we have no problems. he is also available if we want someone to talk to about problems outside or inside of work. I have not been in contact with HR so have no comments on that. I feel like I can easily access support through my manager is needs be.

I don't think the salary is good. There are people who are employed not as apprentices, doing the exact same job as myself and they are receiving more. I feel like HPE uses apprentices for the "cheap labour". The money received, after tax etc leaves just enough to live on with my parents, I feel if I didn't live at home the wage would not be suitable. I also have a car so feel like I have no money from my salary to treat myself. I also have to travel through the tyne tunnel which is expensive.

There is also a range of ways you can volunteer outside of work. I have never yet partaken in any of these but would love to in the future. When I wasn't working I was at sixth form and would go out with my friends and boyfriend at the weekends and after sixth form. however now with work I only go out at weekends as I feel too drained after work to do anything.

Yes

I would recommend them through HPE. I would recommend them because they give you a range of training if you ask so you can get pretty much any training you want to develop your skills and abilities. Additionally there is a range of work you can do within rolls Royce to suit your needs. Incident management or problem. More technical roles or more admin roles, its great :).

Ensure you know alot about the company or else you will struggle in interviews. Make sure yo uknow exactly what you enjoy about ICT and why and how you could develop within the company. Dont apply unless you have a real passion for ICT and want to develop your career in the industry.