Level 6Software Engineer Degree Apprentice Review

by Vodafone

Best Apprenticeship Employer

Rating

6.2/10

1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:

My role includes, attending daily standups and developing solutions, and sometimes attending customer meetings. Recently, I've been doing a lot of development on my own as I'm working on a small proof of concept opportunity but would like to work in a bigger development team soon. Languages that I've used are Python, JavaScript, Node.JS and I've started to use AWS aswell.

7/10

2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

I have learned and developed many new technical skills whilst at Vodafone. We have access to lots of internal resources for extra learning, and I learn a lot in my day-to-day role as well. My manager is quite attentive, and will try and find different work if I'm not enjoying the current work, or I feel like I'm not being supported enough/not challenged enough etc.

8/10

3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

I enjoy my day to day role, but the apprenticeship provider definitely brings down the experience. HR has been helpful and switched to a new provider but it still isn't very different. The workload is definitely full-on at times, and I am forced to spend a lot of time outside contracted hours completing coursework which isn't very interesting or applicable.

7/10

4. How well organised/structured is your programme?

The uni side of the programme is not well-structured at all. Deadlines are changed last minute, tutors take too long to reply to messages etc. The work side depends on your manager, but I'd say mine very structured as the work I'm doing depends on customer opportunities etc.

5/10

5. How much support do you receive from your employer?

My team are always helpful and happy to support with technical issues I might be facing. I haven't ever needed specific support from HR etc.

7/10

6. How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?

We have one lecture a month per module, so a lot of our learning is done on our own. We can contact tutors on teams if we need to, and get varying levels of response depending on the tutor, but in general they're helpful.

6/10

7. How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?

I don't think much of the learning I've done has helped me at my job. Most of the modules are theory, and essay-based such as IT project management, which is good to know but doesn't help me directly much as a software engineer. We have had two practical coding modules, which were quite basic but better than nothing.

4/10

8. Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)

Not really. Since working from home I haven't really spoken to many other apprentices. There is quite a lot on offer though.

6/10

9a. Would you recommend Vodafone to a friend?

Yes

9b. Why?

If you are proactive, and want to learn on the job then I think doing an apprenticeship at Vodafone is definitely a good choice.

10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Vodafone?

They aren't looking for loads of technical knowledge from apprentices, but are more focused on things like growth mindset and other traits that mean you will be able to learn quickly on the job.