Software Engineering Associate Review

My current role involves a great number of interesting tasks. I currently: complete governance and licensing checks, analyse finance reports, analyse compliance reports, do PMO work and help with Technical Project Management tasks. I have interests in each of these areas and feel I have learnt a great deal regarding technology and the importance of the checks listed above.

I have learnt and developed new skills around each of my work areas in my current role. Prior to this role, I did not know how to analyse or run compliance and finance reports. I also had little unnderstanding as to what governance and licensing was. In my previous role as a tester, I developed skills regarding running Selenium Scripts using C#.

I enjoy this programme and feel it has helped me to develop a variety of skills. All teams that I have worked with have been friendly and supportive, thus helping me to enjoy work. The apprenticeship team are also very friendly and supportive. I feel this apprenticeship was the best option for me, and I am glad that I decided to do this rather than study full-time at university.

I feel exceptionally valued by my team. They continuously make an effort to praise and give constructive feedback for personal development. They are also very supportive with the apprenticeship and are encouraging when it comes to university work. I feel valued by Accenture as they have provided us with continued support during both the role-on process and day-to-day work. However, I am aware that other companies such as IBM provide better financial support to their apprentices. I know that money is not everything, but it can be really difficult when you're on a low wage and live in zone 8. I know that IBM's apprentices get a weekly food allowance and help with rent which would benefit us all greatly.

The programme is fairly well structured and I enjoy going to university at the start and end of every module. It would be nice if we had more apprentice gatherings (particularly on a Friday due to travel) so that we could meet more apprentices and see our friends more often. Accenture also provide training prior to beginning our first roles which is beneficial. They also offer us study days, although it may help if they were advertised more as not everyone is aware of these.

We receive a great amount of support from QA Apprenticeships. We have monthly meetings with a Skills Coach who helps us to write our yearly portfolios. We also have access to a great amount of online content throughout the year in order to help us develop our knowledge surrounding our modules. I enjoy attending our university days too. The environment is nice, and it's always nice to receive one-on-one support and see friends!

There is a large apprentice team who help to give us support throughout the apprenticeship. Whilst we do not talk to them regularly, we know that they are there if we need a helping hand. As mentioned previously, it would be nice to have more apprentice get-togethers (again, favourably on a Friday).

Whilst I am aware that for an apprentice our £19,800 salary is good, it does not really go far with myself or other apprentices. I live in zone 8 and so my travel costs are VERY expensive. I am the main income earner in my household and pay a fair share of all bills too. Considering we do the same job as analysts and other employees, I and other apprentices do not think we get paid enough. IBM, for instance, gives their apprentices a weekly food allowance and also gives them £2000 towards rent a month. This would really help my family and I- and I know for a fact the other apprentices feel the same way! I do appreciate the wage we get, but it would be nice to receive a bit more support- especially considering they earn a lot more from clients for our work!

Not really. There are some company ecvents but not too many. There are some activity opportunities such as the odd yoga class but these do not appeal to everyone. As mentioned, there are also not many apprenticeship events. It would be nice if there were more of these. Maybe an apprenticeship event once a month would be good? When I'm not working I often go home and do uni work- would be nice to have an event to give us all a break!

Yes

I feel I have learnt a lot and compared to other people our age we are earning a decent living for ourselves. It's also beneficial that we are getting a degree out of this- saves time and money and enables us to get real-world experience at a young age.

I would encourage people to do background knowledge and research different case studies as this came in handy at the interview. I'd tell them to not be too nervous (!) as everyone in the onboarding process was lovely and made us all feel at ease. I'd encourage them to be themselves and to just enjoy the experience- whatever the outcome, it's all good practise!