Junior Software Developer Review

I have ended up with the task of with setting up and maintaining machines for developers. This mostly involves keeping a register of all current machines, where they are and who has them, and facilitating the transfer of machines from person to person, dealing with any issues that may arise.

Since joining CGI a year and a half ago I have spent approximately a month in a technical role, learning DevOps skills. This was highly interesting to me and revealed a career path I had not considered before. However, I was unable to really get immersed in the role as shortly afterwards a lot of developers started getting new machines and (I feel like it's because I was the most junior member of the team) I was assigned to building and maintaining those machines, and my involvement in the DevOps project fell dramatically. Concerns I have raised with my manager have been continually dismissed as "something will come up soon" I have since attempted to do some training in the field, and although I plan to push this farther in future, nothing has come of it so far. Almost at the end of year 2, with grades averaging a First at the moment and I feel I have learned very little of value from university.

With the exception of university days, I am not exactly unhappy in this programme, although paradoxically, that is primarily down to being under-utilised and ignored. Although this is also a source of unhappiness, stress, and guilt, it also allows me a decent chunk of free time, as well as the ability to make my own options somewhat about how and where I work. I like my team, as well as the other students on the course.

The structure of the course is there, but it feels like it was designed 12 years ago when the course started and has not changed much since. For example, the technical students are given an introduction to programming module in year 1, then a more advanced module in year 2. However, the business students are also given the more advanced module, but with no previous training. This has led to a lot of them struggling, and the entire module has had to be based around trying to get them up to speed. Many of the lecturers do not seem to know much to help, although this is not their fault, as some of them (usually the ones who are not in fact lecturers, but PhD students from the University of Southampton) have admitted to only being told to take the module the night before, and not informed of any of the key parts of the module, such as what the assignment is, what the module is actually about, or where to find any of this information. Apprentices's choice of degree specialisation often had no bearing on the role they were placed into, with some business students ending up in software testing or as technical architects, and some technical students doing PMO and invoicing work. Feedback given on this has had mixed responses, ranging from courteous to hostile. However regardless of response, very little has been actioned so far as I can tell.

My managers are fairly supportive, and although I mentioned above that my training requests have gone nowhere and my requests for more technical work dismissed, I feel a portion of that lies on me for not asserting myself and doing more about it. In addition, they have supported me in other ways, such as providing me with the option to take time off the project to do university work if needed, and helping with the financial costs of university.

As mentioned above, the university has had severe problems with staffing this year, and it has been rare to be taught by an actual university of Winchester lecturer. Although I recognise that this in particular is somewhat of an anomaly, it has meant support has been fairly low. Feedback to assignments is a particular area of weakness, as I am still unsure what the difference is between a good grade and a poor grade, or what I could specifically do better on each one. This is exacerbated by each lecturer's individual marking, with one lecturer telling me they "just doesn't give higher" than about 72%, and another student was told they doesn't really need to know what to do better because they got a first in that assignment. Non-exclusive to the course, the university has good support options available in the library and online journal access. In addition, the disability support team have been supportive.

I do not feel that anything I have covered at university so far has been of help in my role, or advanced enough to help if I was in another role. I hope for this to change next year but my experiences so far do not fill me with hope.

CGI has a excellent program called the Sports and Social Club (SSC), where the member pays £5 per month and will then be provided with a roughly £40 subsidy to any event they wish to go to, provided they can find 3 other members who want to go, and that the event is advertised and open to all SSC members. I feel I have had great value out of this and have gone to a lot of things I may not have done otherwise.

No

Just 'no' does not really do this justice. I feel that the degree apprenticeship is still a very good option and I expect to leave the apprenticeship highly employable on paper. I have had a lot of experiences and met people I like a lot, and I would probably choose to do this again. However, due to some of the extreme stress and unique challenges placed on the SDP students, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this until the course is overhauled.

Be prepared to have to deal with things yourself, being in the working world means no-one is babysitting you like a teacher would, and no-one is really going to tell you if you're doing a good job, only if you're doing a bad job. In terms of the actual application, just don't put short answers, really use the word limit, and try to show an interest and investment in the company. Google some stuff about what they've done and shove that in there.