Software Engineering Apprentice Review

Managing problems and incidents for clients and helping to provide solutions

during my apprenticeship, I learned new skills in coding with various languages such as Java, C# and PHP and how to use these languages to create websites and apps.

The programme allows me to solidify my skills learned in college by applying them in a real work environment as well as to learn new skills and techniques on the job which has benefited by sudies

On the business side, the programme is very well structured and we are given time on top of our allocated college days to take away from work and further study. There is also plenty of opportunity to work with people within the business and for them to help you with studies. However, on the college side organisation could be a lot better. In my final year, our lecturer who was also course leader, left having only given us 1 weeks notice, then his replacement left 4 weeks later, his replacement then didn't join until a month later leaving work we had handed in November to be left unmarked until January. The new replacement lecturer also has no experience teaching a technical IT degree and was unable to assist us with our work, luckily we had people at work to support, but we had to try and catch them in quiet periods at work which wasn't always possible. As of May, having handed in our dissertations in February, the college has only just now employed an external marker with no idea when we will receive our grades.

The employer support is great, we are given extra time to take off work to study and there is a wide range of very knowledgeable people in the business who are always down to help you despite it not being their job. The company also has learning sessions where experts in a field will teach a class on a technology or practice which can be very helpful in our studies

The support from the college can be pretty hit or miss. Some lecturers are very great and explain things in great detail and are very responsive to emails outside of the classroom. Others however can be very confusing and just read of a PowerPoint without explaining things too well. These same individuals often also tended to be quite belittling and condescending when approached with questions often making you feel stupid for asking thus reducing our confidence in asking questions and our knowledge as a result. Luckily, the business has people who helped.

The qualification has allowed me to learn about various new technology skills which I have been able to employ in my work as well as my studies. I do however feel ultimately that I have learned more from people on the job than from the lectures at the college.

Networking events are quite common along with sessions held around 3 times a week over the lunch hour where you can listen to a presenter present a session on a wide range of various topics from something technology based, or the charity of the year. These have even been kept up virtually through the pandemic.

Yes

Most projects and teams provide a friendly and interesting working environment with opportunity to move around in the company not just frim project to project, but role to role meaning you can be working as a Java dev then go working as a business analyst. This is almost like getting a new job which can be great for if you become tired of doing the same thing as you can try something new without having to worry about the job market

Be confident, in the assessment centers it's not as much as what you say as much as it is how you say it. If you're sitting there shy in the corner, no matter what grades you have on your CV you likely won't go far. Make sure you get involved in the discussions but don't be too bossy. When asked questions, take your time to think it through before you answer. Make sure you brush up on company trivia, such as who is our CEO, when were we founded, etc Don't worry about your background holding you back, I and many others came into this with little to no technical experience and got the job over those who had more experience. It's more about you as a person and your ability to work in a team is the most important quality. Accenture will give you the training you need to become a IT professional.