Apprentice Application Developer Review

My role on a day-to-day basis involves, working on a personal project, working within my team to bring new features and improvements to the main product and regular meetings about the product so we can improve it as much as possible. This is all done by working with the customers and the internal staff so that we can bring the best possible product to the customers

During my time here I have developed many new skills and developed existing skills. The first six months with the company allowed me to learn all the necessary skills that I needed to be able to develop on PebblePad's products. During the six months and after, you get personal project time so that you can continue to develop your own skills. Your personal project can involve anything as long as it is relevant to developing your own skills towards the apprenticeship. The skills that I have developed made me more confident in own ability and allowed me to understand industry standards of development.

I really enjoyed this programme. It has been everything I expected it to be and more. I am motivated everyday to work hard and faces the challenges. The work is challenging and it is really satisfying once you complete it. The atmosphere within PebblePad is warm and welcoming. You never feel out of place, even as a newer apprentice.

The programme is well organised and structured. There is a plan of how you are going to develop your knowledge and skills as a group within your team, but you are also given the opportunity to do that individually. The system of organisation and structure that is used within PebblePad works really well and it also adaptable for whatever circumstances. There is a long term roadmap for what has been intended for us to learn and at what points we should be ready to learn the next stage. The support towards our training is excellent and is constantly looked at for improvement.

The support from the employer is phenomenal. The apprentices are supported really well throughout each stage in the apprenticeship. If there any questions or difficulties that you are having, there is always someone that is available to support you. Feedback is given by us apprentices and if it is possible, changes are made to support you in the best way possible. Mentors are given to each apprentice when they start, so there is always some that you can go to for any questions that you might have.

The support given from University of Wolverhampton is not great however, it is manageable. There is often a lot of times where you are not given the information that is required in order for you to progress. This involves consistent nagging by you to get the information. However, there is a lot of support given by PebblePad to put pressure on the university to make necessary changes , in order to improve the quality and quantity of information that we are given

The qualification has not helped me perform better in my job role. My knowledge at PebblePad advanced so much within the first six months, that it felt like the course content was not tailored for the apprenticeship and felt too easy and at other times, when they have tried to make up for this. They have made assumptions and do not cover, the content in enough detail, if it is something we have not covered before. Most of the time we are unaware which work we are doing will be needed later on for submission, which then involves coming back to it at a later time to make sure it is up to the standards of the submission. This then results in the work being cramped up to be completed in a short amount of time.

There are plenty of activities to get involved in at PebblePad such as the PebbleBash, Hackathons, there is also a weekly football team. There is several events throughout the year that PebblePad holds that anyone is welcome to attend, including the apprentices. There are many opportunities to go to events that will allow apprentices to develop themselves. There is time every Friday, for employees of PebblePad to to use the facilities to create their own projects or games. Many employees do this together.

Yes

The experience I have gained at PebblePad in such a short amount of time is immense and is much more than I had expected. The best thing about this is that you are supported all the way throughout your time here. There has not been a single time where I have not been supported with anything in the apprenticeship and be able to get so much experience.

If you want to apply for PebblePad, I would make sure that it is something that you want to do. You need to have the drive to be able to learn, improve yourself and work hard. Don't worry about not having a lot of technical knowledge. You will be guided throughout the apprenticeship to learn everything that you need to learn.