Software engineering apprentice Review

by BT

Best Apprenticeship Employer

Rating

6.8/10

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

Coding (specifically working on a website atm), doing presentations, personal study, team calls

7/10

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

I've learnt how to use angular, and have had the time to develop personal skills like some basic Java and C++

7/10

3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

Other than having a rather restrictive manager (which doesn't seem to be the case generally here), it's been good overall. Being paid certainly helps

7/10

4. How well organised/structured is your programme?

I'm fortunate enough to have coding experience, but the fact that for a software engineering course Uni of Suffolk doesn't teach programming in any meaningful capacity to the second year is wild (considering coding knowledge isn't mandatory). Pretty decent other than that though

7/10

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

7/10

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

8/10

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

I'm not far enough in to have learnt anything that I didn't already learn at A level, and the little I have done has yet to have much practical application. Maybe that will change though

6/10

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.)

There's a gym at work, a few clubs, and sometimes they do things like sports day's, not that I have done anything other than the gym

5/10

9a. Would you recommend BT to a friend?

Yes

9b. Why?

They pay well, and have a rather flexible environment to develop your skills. Definitely better than getting into debt to go to uni

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

They focus a lot upon soft skills like being willing to learn, enthusiastic, and good in teams when applying, rather than whether you have mountains of coding experience (though that's certainly a bonus). Focus upon being your self and you'll be fine