Senior Engineer Review

I'm an engineer involved in the support of the University's telephone service. I work closely with colleagues across a range of IT disciplines to support the service, and with colleagues in a wide range of roles across the University to ensure that the service we provide meets their requirements.

In my time in this role I have studied for an undergraduate advanced diploma from the University of Oxford, a number of professional IT qualifications (ITIL), trained as a first aider, and am now reaching the business end of this level 5 (I think!) coaching apprenticeship. I feel well supported by my role with respect to continuing personal and professional development.

I've really enjoyed this programme of study, and I've had some excellent experiences working with this cohort of students. The programme has been structured in such a way as to allow for a great deal of practical training, and sharing/cross-pollination of ideas. I've found this particularly valuable, perhaps especially since starting this course broadly coincided with leaving lock-downs behind. It was quite nice to spend time with actual people!

The Coaching Apprenticeship is a well structured program. It has never felt overwhelming in terms of the theory or coaching hours I have to complete, though I felt quite overwhelmed when it comes to completing the portfolio piece of work which supports the course's end-point-assessment. This is however due to workload, and not a fault of the course.

I feel well supported. While I have a significant workload at the moment, I can take time away to study, and my manager understands that this is a priority. I also recognise the contribution the others in my cohort from the University have made to my progress in this apprenticeship. I feel like they, like me, have been able to absorb themselves in the material, which makes everyone have a better experience on workshops/webinars. This to me is a good indicator of the University being a supportive employer.

The support from the training provider has been very good, with a couple of things which I've found disruptive. The support on webinars and workshops has been great, and I feel like my course mentor has been able to provide meaningful guidance and feedback. I found having to change course mentor slightly jarring, and on occasion I've found that they seem quite stretched themselves. Neither of these are huge issues, just minor observations.

I feel that this coaching qualification has made a significant improvement in my performance at work. This is primarily due to the practical nature of much of the course - it forces me out of my comfort zone and into a position where I have to be absolutely present with whomever I'm talking to. I've found this has hugely improved my confidence and communication skill at work.

Yes - I'm playing football with colleagues this evening! The University also runs professional networking events, conferences, and holds annual parties. There is lots of scope for getting involved with organising committees, workshops and working groups. Being an educational institution, there are also lots of lectures and seminars staff members can attend.

Yes

The University of Oxford is an interesting institution, in a beautiful city, full of interesting people doing interesting things. There are a wealth of opportunities for study and personal development, and excellent growth opportunities. There's always something significant happening, and it's genuinely exciting (for me at least) to be in a position where I can make a contribution to the sum of human knowledge.

The most important thing when applying for a job here is to make sure you tick all the 'essential' boxes in a cover letter, along with as many of the 'desirables'. Applications are scored against these, so a good applicant who fails to explicitly make clear that they are all the necessary things may well end up missing out on an interview.