Digital Technology Solutions Degree Apprentice - Software with Data Review

I was placed in a Software Engineering team within Electrical Vehicle Engineering. My team, around 10-15 people, have a stand up every morning where we discuss what we did yesterday and what we plan to do today. We have tickets to complete and work on these on our day-to-day. Others within the team are always available to help if we have any difficulties. I rarely interact with others outside the team, though there are tickets which involve this.

I've learned a lot so far. At our university course, in first year, there are three technical-focused modules. These are an Applied Maths module, a Programming module and a Networking module. I think our University course is a little bit disconnected from the work we complete on a day-to-day, but I prefer this as it means we learn a lot more than if they were closely connected. I've learned a lot about programming so far, with the experience the seniors provide and access to a lot of code from previous JLR developers, there's a lot to learn from. I've also learned a lot about team work and when to ask for help. My problem solving skills have also definitely improved as I've learned the processes each of my team members use to approach problems and adapted these for myself. Being in office is nice occasionally, it gives us access to the seniors within our team more so than when we work remotely - allowing us to learn more from them. It's great that everybody is always willing to help or teach you best practices. Whenever I'm unsure why a piece of code is there, once I ask I always receive a good answer and usually end up learning about it. For example if some code is there to match a design pattern.

My team has a lot of personality. There's always room for a good laugh or sending funny gifs or team-made memes into group chats. Of course - this is not how most of our time is spent - the day-to-day work is also enjoyable. Occasionally, there will be mundane/boring tasks. However, within my team, these aren't delegated to just apprentices - everybody pitches in, including the seniors. The work is evenly spread which is great. I enjoy most when I get to review my work with seniors within my team as they can give me constructive feedback on everything I've done and show me how they would have approached the ticket. Writing the code is quite enjoyable too as we decompose each problem and solve it piece by piece. I always feel very proud when I've solved a problem, even if it takes a little while.

The program is very iterative. I am the second cohort of Digital Technology Solutions apprentices at Jaguar Land Rover, and everything about the course has changed a lot since last year, when the first cohort joined. Similarly, I can see differences already between my cohort and next year's cohort. Next year's cohort have been provided with much more information prior to joining in comparison with my cohort, which is great to see. Each cohort's experience is sure to improve each year as both JLR and University of Warwick learn how to handle the apprenticeship even better than they did the prior year. University of Warwick consistently asks for genuine, anonymous feedback from the apprentices and visibly takes it into account. In all I think the program is well structured and organised, if you ever have a question they are available to help out.

We have a dedicated Early Careers Hub at Jaguar Land Rover (HR) which supports apprentices and is there for any troubles. We also have a dedicated apprentice tutor from University of Warwick, whom we meet with every 6 weeks to monitor our progress and make sure we're okay. As we are also working towards professional accreditation on this apprenticeship, we have a professional mentor to aid us with this and help us out with any issues relating to that. In addition, we have a buddy from the apprentice cohort in the year above us who can help us out with how the apprenticeship works and help us with anything which isn't inherently obvious - for example how to approach booking annual leave (which is simple!) or let your team know you're going to take a few days to work on University assignments. We also have a manager for our team who writes feedback for us every 12 weeks for our professional development and we talk to frequently in stand ups or team meetings. All of these people are happy to support us with any issues, and it feels like we have a very strong support network available to us. My team is interested to know what the University course is teaching us. Some seniors within the team are happy to help fill the gap and teach us anything they think would be useful specific to our work, as my team has quite a few apprentices.

University of Warwick provides a lot of support for us. The module lecturers are available to answer questions quickly and usually reply on the same day, permitting they are not on leave. We usually receive teaching in week-blocks every few weeks. For example, 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon Monday-Friday, then a few weeks of regular work with an assignment to complete, too. The morning is usually spent on one module, and the afternoon another. This can be quite overwhelming, but we have access to the resources which the University made or provided to help us. Whilst the lectures are online, they are also all recorded so we can go back and re-watch anything we were unsure with. All lecturers are more than happy to help as much as they can and they all want to see you succeed.

I feel like there is a disconnect between the qualification and the work we complete in the office. The programming module teaches Python and C++ at the moment, though at work we use a variety of programming languages and some teams don't use these languages at all, focusing on others. The other modules don't really relate to the work I personally complete on a day-to-day basis. However, the University modules teach me a lot about the overall industry and a general Software Engineering job. I wouldn't change it much beyond what it is now if I could.

We have full access to the University of Warwick clubs and can join those. However it is worth noting we are full-time employees for Jaguar Land Rover, so the clubs must fit into time outside of our 8-4 or 9-5, depending on your team. I believe in a non-COVID year there are a lot of opportunities to meet and network with fellow apprentices from what last year's cohort has said, however this year there hasn't been much due to COVID.

Yes

Everybody wants to see you succeed and everybody is happy to help with any issues you may face. There is a lot you can learn from seniors within your team and from the University. Your colleagues are aware you're an apprentice - and in some cases you are only 18, they understand that you won't be landing on your feet and immediately tackling the most difficult software problems. Everyone's happy to help you, and give you the space to, learn. To note, the course length is 4 years. (The only options were 3-4 years and 4-5 years) All in all, however, I must mention that your experience on this apprenticeship will vary greatly depending on the team you are placed into. I'm not sure how the team you end up in is allocated, but I know that it is difficult to move team once you are in one. I think I have been very fortunate and I am in a great team.

Make sure you learn the skills and competencies which are advertised for the role on JLR's website. I was surprised at my assessment center that not everybody had memorized these before turning up to the interview. Don't stress too much about learning a lot of programming skills before joining, you may learn a language which is unrelated to what you end up working on - though the skills will stay with you. Consider if a degree apprenticeship is right for you. It's not a university life. You won't be able to miss a lecture and go out with your mates at 11am on a weekday unless you book annual leave or have a bank holiday. You could go out partying with your mates until early morning, but you will be tired the next day in work and not produce work to the best of your ability. I know I spent a lot of time between when I was accepted to when I joined considering whether this was for me. It's okay to be unsure about it. Just apply if you think you may prefer it and keep your options open. Plenty of time to decide and have a think. Good luck :)