IT Business Trainee Review

My role involves moving placements every 8 weeks/ 3 months dependant upon the placement.I work in the IT dept and have been involved with many different areas of my department including development, finance, commercial, enterprise architecture and governance (people) work to name few.

Yes I feel the scheme has allowed me to develop many skills ranging from basic skills such as how to manage time effectively and how to run meetings. I have also learnt project management skills, development skills.

I have enjoyed my programme overall. However, I have had a few experiences on placements which could have been improved. I feel overall I have learnt a lot and it has been a good experience.

I feel fairly valued by BAE Systems as a whole and I think that as trainees we are valued. However, I believe that many people do not fully understand the trainee scheme and that those people sometimes view trainees as a resource rather than for us to learn to further develop our skills.

My particular programme is not structured, we have a choice of placements we can choose to undertake. There is a loose structure in terms of doing IT placements and external (to IT) placements.

Through the training scheme, I have been working towards a foundation degree in Computing. We have recieved good support from our training provider, but I feel that it could have been better as we had issues with tutors moving departments and the assignments set.

I recieve good support from my employer and I am happy with the level of support. I know that if i have an issue I have many different channels of who I can speak to to resolve any issues.

Starting salary of £15k was lower than the national higher apprenticeship average for the UK however upon starting this salary was adequate. In my second year following a review of national apprenticeship wages this increased to £17.5k (not including performance related salary increases) Overall salary meets costs well however if I were having to support myself solely, I am not sure how well my wage would cover rent, bills etc.

Yes many opportunities outside of work in the local community including living near the Lake District and opportunities for hobbies locally. However, there could be more.

Yes

BAE Systems is a good employer and I have generally enjoyed my training scheme. I think that BAE is a supportive company and looks after its employees.

The advice I would give to others applying to BAE would be to ensure that you find a role that suits you as there are many different opportunities. I would also advise them to be open minded as I have ended up in a final job where I would never have envisaged myself and I think this is a good thing.