Technology and Data apprentice. Review

Technology and Data Apprentice. Various job roles including experience within Sequel, Operations, Sequencing, Messaging, AD, Wintel and SCCM. Liaising with different members of various teams to gain knowledge and experience.

I will be fortunate enough to achieve qualifications for ITIL Foundation as well as various Microsoft Server qualifications. I have also completed a huge variety of internal training through e-learning. I have also broadened my general knowledge of how servers work and which teams support which applications within a corporate environment.

The work life balance within TfL is the best I have experienced within any company so far (having worked for around 6 thus far) as they really care about people having the right mindset when coming to work by giving them time to deal with family and life in general without being too forceful. The application process is quite stringent so everyone I have come across during my work has been polite, genuine and a nice person to work with. It has exceeded my expectations.

I feel extremely valued by even the most high up of people. I have had praise from my numerous band 5+ managers who have praised the apprenticeship programme as well as providing time to find out about what we have been up to and how we feel about our apprenticeship.

The induction process was very informative, a few days of presentations from important people within the business just explaining what it is that TfL does for London and what is to be expected of us. The structure of the apprenticeship is also very good, with a good outline of where I will be and what I will be doing until next year when my 2nd and final year will be organised. Training has been left to us to organize which I see as a good thing as it gives us the opportunity to get involved ourselves instead of just being told what to do.

Our training provider has been lackluster until now. We previous had an assessor that didn't really show any real interest in what we were doing and I also felt that they lacked a basic knowledge of what we were expected to do etc. We have sine had our assessor changed and it is now showing real promise and I am looking forward to completing my NVQ as soon as possible.

TfL are extremely cooperative and helpful with any and all issues you may have. Managers take an interest and provide feedback to improve, the HR services they offer are also very helpful and help with any issues you may have. I feel as though I have more than adequate support should I need it.

I feel as though the London living wage is a good basic salary for an apprenticeship and that it gives just enough to get by. If I were younger and didn't have such a high expenditure every month (living costs, rent, bills etc) it would be more than adequate. The fact that I get a free travelcard for me and my partner really takes the sting off this lack of earning though and I feel that it adds up hugely. I would appreciate a higher salary but of course, this is an apprenticeship, not a full time job.

There are a huge amount of opportunities outside of work, such as apprenticeship faires and events, I have been invited to approx. 50 within the 6 months I have been here. There are also lots of classes organized by colleagues internally as well on our noticeboard should you with to get fit or try yoga or even religious meetups.

Yes

Hugely enriching to work for such a massive corporation that genuinely seems to care about your development. Also the benefits are amazing, discounts on the majority of shops and free travel for me and a family member means getting to London, even on the weekend, costs me nothing. The work life balance is also a massive benefit as they really do care about you having a life outside of work, accommodating family needs or help with children etc.

Make sure you really look into the STAR technique and the ways in which they choose applicants. I would also say to make sure you try and stand out in interviews and observations but for all of the right reasons.