Advanced Apprentice Review

I work in an Enterprise Management role. It is my responsibility to ensure that our IT monitoring systems are reporting on the availability, health & performance of the servers in our customer's estates. Additionally, we administer the software deployment tool used to distribute software and patches to the servers in the estate. I am part of a sub-team which primarily focuses on a Microsoft product set called 'System Center'. My day-to-day work involves remote connections onto our customer's networks to react to incidents ('firefighting'), conference calls with other support teams, and discussions/planning surrounding project work.

My technical skills have improved massively since starting at Fujitsu. I am now proficient in the use of System Center Operations Manager & System Center Configuration Manager and I am able to administer their use in medium-to-large computer estates. Additionally, I have become familiar with the use of other applications, such as the network monitoring tool "Spectrum", created by Computer Associates. I have also familiarised myself with scripting languages in order to streamline my day-to-day activities. My proficiency with visual basic, powershell and SQL have all increased in the past year. Fujitsu have sent me on several training courses to date in order to expand my skills in the toolsets we use. I have been on training courses for SCOM, SCCM and CA Spectrum, and have also been looking at courses in reporting/capacity management tools. In the near future I hope to begin the learning path to get my MCSA certification. This work-based learning is compounded by the skills learnt in apprenticeship meetings.

The workload is large - however, this has allowed me to learn a great deal about the infrastructure used in order to deliver an IT service to a customer. The team I work with has helped me to develop my skills and I am left to work independently.

I feel like I am a valued member of the team and my contributions are recognised by my peers and manager. I am heavily involved in project and business-as-usual work.

The programme is organised however the training inside the classroom could be improved. The amount of workload received in the past year is not as much as I'd initially expected. For me this isn't an issue, as the amount of work to do outside of the classroom is vast, however for other apprentices with less workload I would imagine this could be frustrating.

Emails answered on time.

Employer supports me well. My manager regularly sends me for training and the HR side of the company is systematic in their responses. Whenever I needed transportation when I am working away this is provided.

My salary is very lucrative for an apprentice. It is a great deal more than I expected.

Fujitsu are partnered with Shelter, a homeless charity. There are regular events & fundraising. Location is good, there are great travel links and an on-site gym which is subsidised.

Yes

Because it's a good place to work.

Be customer focused in your telephone and face-to-face interviews. The managers look for this. A good attitude, willingness to learn, and ask a lot of questions. Make it clear that you want to be there and you want to understand why things work, especially if you're in a technical role. You will be thrown in the deep end.