Software engineer Review

My day-to-day role at work typically involves development work on various projects in my departments domain. I develop full stack trading systems, so have gained experience with front end and back end technologies. Each day I have regular planned catch-ups and meetings with my manager, project stakeholders and other team members in order to track progress and ask for help or advice. Everyone is helpful and treats me like any other valued member of the team which has helped me settle in really quickly.

I have developed technical skills, through learning new programming languages such as Java, Typescript, Javascript, html and Angular. By learning these languages, I have learnt how to make an API in order to allow the front-end web pages to send data to and from the back-end for processing. In addition to this, I have also improves my soft and interpersonal skills. I regularly present to my team and superiors, and have also participated in panel events which have all massively helped my public speaking skills.

We have a small group of apprentices which has made the program really fun as we are all close and actively support each other. My work team are helpful during work but also very sociable. The culture at Goldman Sachs has made the experience even more enjoyable. Everyone I have met on the apprenticeship have been so lovely and supportive. There is a 'coffee with a colleague' email chain which encourages you to meet up with new people at the firm for a coffee to help expand your network which I have really benefited from and enjoyed.

The program is split so that two days a week are spent at university, and the other three days are spent at work. This split has worked very well for myself, and I have been able to learn to manage my time efficiently so that I get the most out of each week and have a generous work/life balance.

We have regular meetings as a group with our HR apprentice contact and they ask for and listen to our feedback. We are also encouraged to speak to our manage or HR whenever we feel we need to, and also are assigned a work 'buddy' when we start so that we have another person we can talk to or ask questions.

We have regular feedback sessions with our university apprentice contact where we can freely ask questions about the program and give our point of view on certain issues. We can also communicate over email and whats-app group chats and so the support is always there and accessible.

Our university work is structured and aligned with the computer science degree and so much of the content is relevant to our day-to-day role at work. As apprentices we also have a work-based module which is directly linked with our job and so helps us apply our learning to a real-life situation.

I am a member of the Goldman Sachs netball team and we have recently won the Go Mammoth league in which we play weekly. There are many more sport teams, and also musical groups such as the choir and orchestra. The gym is available for employee use and has classes which you can join there. There are also many panel events and talk s which are open to all employees, as well as professional networking events. I recently attended a women in technology event which helped me expand my female network in the industry.

Yes

The culture is so supportive, welcoming and fun. The work is enjoyable and learning is part of the job no matter what role you come into.

Don't overthink your application. Don't be afraid to be yourself, most people here are super fun and outgoing and so showing you have an interest outside of work/education is not a bad thing!