Application Development Associate Review

As an apprentice at Accenture your current role depends on the project you are on, sometimes the projects and roles are not relevant to what your job is meant to be. Software Engineer apprentices can end up doing PMO (Project Management Office) roles that do not help their career development because projects want more experienced resources for technical roles and are not willing to help or train apprentices properly.

I have not learnt any new skills recently at Accenture. During the coronavirus pandemic communication was not good, where people have been working remotely and you can be ignored more easily when you need help. Training at work is inadequate and when apprentices are put on projects, they tend to be left without any help or support.

The degree apprenticeship programme is quite intensive, but it is good to complete the degree apprenticeship in three years along with gaining work experience. However, the experience does not relate to the degree apprenticeship which has left some struggling in relation to completing their degree assignments. Accenture are more concerned with getting apprentices off the bench and into any role, rather than helping them into roles that are relevant to their job role so you can get stuck doing PMO roles and not be trained up properly for technical roles.

I do not think the apprenticeship programme is organised very well. Apprentice management are meant to support apprentices but when any concerns are raised with them, they can be quite dismissive of the issues you are having. Apprentices can also be left doing menial work on projects because they are lower down the career ladder and a cheaper resource which does not help with development and career progression.

Before the coronavirus pandemic there was not much support from Accenture for apprentices. During this the coronavirus pandemic where more people were working remotely this was worse and communication was not good. There was hardly any support for apprentices who needed help and when issues were raised in calls, management were dismissive of our concerns.

The University of East London did lectures remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. The lectures given were ok, but with a lecturer of a class if the lecture was done with people both joining remotely and in class there were problems with communication when remote students tried to contribute to the live lecture and could not be heard properly by the lecturer who did not seem equipped to deal with the technology. Most of the lecturers were responsive when contacted for help.

The digital and technology solutions degree through the training provider the University of East London, helps provide a general overview of technology e.g. Java and JavaScript. However, it does not help me perform better in my role. For example, in my role I have not used the programming languages learnt at university, but it does help to provide an understanding of the basic concepts involved in programming.

There were some virtual events during the coronavirus pandemic for networking and some social events. Due to the social distancing and government rules at the time, there were no sports team events or face-to-face interaction. Before the coronavirus pandemic there were more opportunities to get involved in networking and social events at Accenture.

No

As an apprentice at Accenture, you do not receive much support from management and when you raise concerns these are dismissed. The apprenticeship programme is also inadequate and does not give enough technical training and experience relevant to the degree specialism and the job role that you are doing which does not help your career development or progression at the company.

A degree apprenticeship is a good opportunity to gain a degree debt free and work experience and there are other companies that offer the digital and technology solutions degree apprenticeship that can be researched before applying. Before applying to Accenture, it is best to research the culture of the company and speak to apprentices who have done the degree apprenticeship there, but I would advise to try other companies.