Software Development Apprentice Review

As a technical service trainee I undergo training for A+ and Microsft certifications currently - I will then be training in Azure and AWS. I'm also mentored by fellow team members within the Wintel1 team as they carry out migrations and patching etc. and work with colleagues company-wide doing the same role.

Every day we are learning new terminology which comes in very useful. Since starting my apprenticeship I have learned many skills which are invaluable to the role - I have built servers, watched as migrations and patching has been carried out and listened to how fellow team members handle issues.

I have loved every minute of my Apprenticeship programme. Being able to attend class once a week and then learn on the job has been invaluable and has really helped cement in understanding. Furthermore, the opportunities which the programme has offered have been amazing - one of which being the Junior Talent Programme (allowing us to travel to different places in the UK and meet other Apprentices and Graduates) has been so much fun as well as educational.

The programme is very well structured. W have class every Wednesday from 9am - 6pm and work in the office on the other 4 days. We are given training time in the office for our office roles and are also afforded time to work on our college assignments and prepare for our exams.

My employer is very supportive. We have scheduled 1:1 meetings every month during which I am given the opportunity to raise any questions or anything I may need support with. In addition, my employer is a very friendly and approachable person, and I am always reminded that I can talk to him at any time if I need any support.

University of Ulster are very supportive and stay in contact throughout the semester. As we only have college on 1 day a week, the lecturers understand that we may need some additional support in our modules, so they have been very diligent in replying to emails of questions and uploading helpful content on our shared learning platform.

Undoubtedly, without our training for our qualification, it would be very difficult to have any understanding of my day-to-day role. Having the increasing knowledge that my qualification provides definitely helps me to perform better in my role. The grounds the qualification covers also extends over other areas within the IT sector, helping greatly instead of only understanding my own job.

Upon employment, my manager enrolled me on to the Junior Talent Programme which has been amazing. We have travelled to different places in the UK and met Apprentices and Graduates from all different sectors within the company throughout the UK and Europe. This programme lasts for 2 years, allowing us to build meaningful friendships with the rest of the cohort, which will be invaluable as we continue within our company roles.

Yes

Fujitsu has treated me very fairly and I have felt extremely welcome since I was employed. Also, the fact that the company has taken part in employing Apprentices is great as it has allowed more people to become involved in the IT world, learning and working at the same time.

If you are called for interview, make an effort to attend prepared with knowledge of the company. Before my interview, I had to do a psychometric test; so if you are asked to do the same, try your test to prepare for that by completing mock tests of any samples you find - there are loads of websites available dedicated to psychometric sample tests.