Maintenance Developer Review

My daily tasks consist of maintaining applications, fixing bugs and doing release work. I work closely with other development teams to help transition their applications into support. I work alongside the developers and help them develop applications. I carry out releases for those applications when the applications are ready to be deployed.

I have learned many new skills. Soft skills such as communication, time management, team work, listening skills. Other technical skills include learning to develop apps on a low-code BPM platform, working with software and application releases, creating documentation for applications and some personal development involving programming using statically and dynamically typed, object-oriented programming languages.

I really enjoy this programme as it helps a person to understand both technical and business aspects of IT. As I aspire to become a Software Engineer during or after my apprenticeship it means that not only do I get a degree at the end of 4 years, but I also get 4 years worth of experience in a business that uses a lot of IT. I really enjoy working with colleagues of many ages; it helps you get essential advice on career choices and life in general.

I'll be honest here. The structure can be improved. This apprenticeship is only very young, I am on the first cohort of the 360 Digital pathway at KPMG. Therefore, I expected the structure to lack some solid foundation. For the most part, it is just the fact that the programme timeline was unclear at the start; not enough information was given to us and I felt like we needed more. I'm sure that as this programme gets older they will definitely improve the organisation.

KPMG are VERY supportive of their colleagues. The company have a dedicated professional qualifications team to assist you with your university studies and an apprenticeship team to help you with any programme related matters. There are plenty of points of contact to reach out to if you're feeling a bit... off, so to speak. The company itself has many wellbeing events such as mental health awareness, Wednesday walks at lunch time and many more. KPMG, as a company, really look after their employees and the people who work here and very friendly.

Whilst KPMG provide a lot of support to their employees, BPP could offer more support when working towards a degree. I noticed a lot of mistakes in assessment briefs which I had to point out to the module leaders, which delays progression on key assignments. The replies from the tutors are inconsistent in terms of the time to respond, it could take an hour or a few days for them to respond. I think that whilst the teaching is great, the support out of teaching hours could be improved.

The qualification that I, hopefully, will receive in 4 years time is BSc Digital Technology Solutions. Whilst this is NOT a computer science or software engineering degree, it has many aspects of IT, some of which are software engineering related within. This degree on business more than any other IT related degree out there, helping you to understand business processes and how IT plays a part in it. There are several pathways you can specialise in during the second year of the degree, some of which are Software Engineer, Data Analyst.

KPMG has many networking events that happen throughout the year to get to know other employees in the company. The people at KPMG also organise sporting events such as weekly football. Every now and then, employees go out for meals or drinks to informally chat about work or just catch-up as many employees visit from other office locations. KPMG also have a volunteering scheme, where a few days in the year employees are allowed to take a certain amount of days off to volunteer at charities, schools and other places.

Yes

KPMG, as I said, looks after their employees like no other company does. The people who work here are very friendly and approachable. With a diverse workforce with a diverse set of skills it become second nature to pick up the good traits of others and build skills that you never though you could have learned before. It is great to build a career at KPMG as there are so many different paths you can follow, as the company is so large.

Just be yourself when it comes to application and interviews. KPMG love diversity and if you happen to have different views about things, it sparks interest. KPMG believe innovation is diverse and innovation comes from diversity and discussion is where new ideas are born. During the interview stage, be sure to be yourself and express your views; remember the interviewers are human too so they understand that you are nervous! Take your time answering questions and be sure to ask them questions at the end too, it shows your interest in the role.