Advanced Apprentice Review

Currently my job title is advanced apprentice, but once I finish the program my job title will change to Technical Service Specialist. My duties in this role, are maintaining servers. It is our responsiblilty to update servers with patches as well as deal with issues that affect the servers that we look over. We also have to rate impacts of different changes to see how they will affect our systems and estate.

Yes I have learnt many new skills already and we are only three months into our apprenticeship. Currently I have gotten the Windows 7 MTA and am currently working on getting the Networks MTA. I have also learnt new skills within my work, by watching my collegues and also by applying for internal training courses.

I am thoroughly enjoying the programme. The work that I am going to be doing seems very interesting and I'm dying to get down to business with the systems. Also the team itself is extremley capable and friendly and are willing to take the time out to help explain anything to me. Time in the College is also extremley good, with learning the material at a good rate and also the fun that is had with the apprentices from the other companies.

I do indeed feel valued by fujitsu. As soon as I walked in the door, my collegues were extremely happy to welcome me to part of the team. Unfortunately at the moment there is a few problem with gettting me fully set up to start my work properly, but I am constantly being shown and included in work to help me get started.

I believe that the programme is extremley well organised. The course itself was well thought out by both the college and by the respective companies. We are going through the material at a nice pace and getting to learn plenty. Within work the programme is also well organised. We have plenty of support within our teams, with a mentor/buddy that we can ask questions of. Also within Fujitsu we are currently getting a tour around the business helping us understand the company as a whole.

The support we receive from the training provider is extremley good. Belfast Met itself has plenty of material on the courses themselves which is made public for easy access for the apprentices. Also the trainers/lecturers themselves are really helpful. Any questions that we have, the trainers will do their best to answer or find out the answer for us. They also have given us their email addresses so we can contact them at anytime if needed.

Yes there is also an overwhelming amount of support from my employer as well. Louise would look after the apprentices in Fujitsu and she has been nothing but nice and helpful. Any problems or questions that we might have, we are always welcome in Louise's office and she always helps us to the best of our ability. I also get plenty of support from within my team, either from my collegues, mentor, or manager, with all being easily reachable and always happy to help.

The salary is just average. The salary was lower than my last job, and with me now living on my own expenses have risen. Luckily enough, I am living with my girlfriend and am able to split the expenses with her, however I believe that if I was living by myself with the same expenses as now, that the salary would just about let me survive, however I do believe that a lot of sacrifice would be neccessary. However at the same time, the salary could be less, so I'm happy with what I'm getting.

There does seem to be plenty of outside work functions within Fujitsu. Currently I have only attended one event and that was the christmas party. However I have seen many notices and emails about different commitees and charties that anyone can take part in. I mentioned before that Fujitsu also provide e-courses which can be done within work or outside of work.

Yes

Since I have started working here in Fujitsu, I have loved every minute of it. The company itself is a worldwide one which is always an incentive. The company itself does varied and interesting work, as we were shown around the company in NI. Being an employee of Fujitsu also has many perks, including discount sites, free e-courses and even free tea and coffee! I have already recommended Fujitsu as a working environment to a lot of my friends.

My advice would be to show just how much you love working with computers and how well you can work in a team, as both are big parts of working here in Fujitsu. During the interview process I would say relax and enjoy the experience, I know interviews are not really a nice thing, but during my interview here, I felt relaxed and enjoyed the conversations I had with interviewers, and it must have paid off!