UX Apprentice Review

My role involves conducting user research, collecting and analysing user insights, and rapid ideating and prototyping using Figma to ensure user feedback has been considered in development and a user-friendly experience is achieved.

Yes, I've learned lots of new skills around UX research and accessibility, and learned more about the business during my BA rotation, I'm currently focusing on developing my design skills. The team is very supportive in terms of helping you find opportunities for development.

I enjoy the programme as there's a lot of opportunities for development and AZ is extremely supportive of their apprentices. But I feel the Uni side of things still requires some work, but it's expected as the programme is quite new.

The programme usually consists of 3 modules/assignments which you work on each semester. In terms of attendance you are expected to attend the Uni for lectures and assignment support once a month for a week for each semester (these are called 'sprints', there's 3 per semester). The modules in the 1st and 2nd semester usually mirror each other every year, which I'm not sure I prefer as it leaves less space to learn about other aspects of UX, for example there hasn't been much emphasis on Design, so I'm trying to get most of the learning for that via my workplace. I like going into Uni every month for a week rather than having one Uni day per week as it allows me to focus solely on Uni for an extended period, as usually you have to find time to carve out for it (although it has poorly coincided with important team events sometimes). But I found that releasing a third of the content each sprint hindered my progress with assignments as I was unable to see the full picture/have all the info until the 3rd sprint, this caused my Uni workload to be unevenly distributed, as I wouldn't be too busy on the 1st sprint, but then be very busy by the 3rd sprint, making it difficult to juggle Uni and job workload. On the other hand, the Uni is taking in feedback from students constantly to allow it to improve the programme each year, as it is fairly new.

Lots, especially when it comes to development of skills.

It's been improving each year as they're trying their best to provide a better experience, it's been a bit harder for me as I'm the first UX Apprentice at AZ so I don't have any peers to go to. But the Uni provides skills sessions, a professional service to review your writing, formative feedback, and past assignment examples, so it's pretty good.

It provides an awareness of other tools/methods/theories used outside of the company standard, so it helps me be more experimental in my approach. But I do think most of the useful stuff is learned through work experience and mentoring from colleagues, as you learn you a lot more and lot faster through doing projects, and you also learn what does and doesn't work in the industry. However, as I've mentioned earlier, I would be heavily underprepared to take on the role of a UX designer (which is the role I want to be in) if I relied solely on the curriculum as there's hardly enough emphasis on design skills and training, this can be circumvented through a mix of developing design skills through projects, getting a design mentor in the workplace, and self-learning, but this is not always possible depending on the company you work for (i.e. it could be a research-heavy UX team or they might not be as supportive of development). You do get to make prototypes for assignments, but there's no formal training or support around how to do it, so you have to either self-learn or learn from your workplace. I heard this is going to change in the future though, as they plan to incorporate design workshops into the curriculum for later cohorts.

Yes, there's lots of opportunities to engage with other apprentices, or join a group you can relate to (e.g. I'm part of a crafters group!) and they usually put together events for networking. Your also allowed 1 day for a volunteering event, which can be done with either your team or apprentice group, and there's an expectation to do at least 1 apprenticeship promotion event (e.g. going to a careers event to talk about your experience/provide advice to students). There was also the Young Professionals Networking event which had the opportunity to attend where a few young professional from different companies are brought together to network and also attend sessions that provide career advice. There's also team outings such as attending conferences or going for a meal together.

Yes

It's a good place for young professionals to start due to the enthusiastic support and opportunities it provides on helping you develop into a capable employee and allowing flexibility in shaping your own development plan.

Learn about the AZ values and ensure you show how you align with them during your interactions with the company, they have an interview specifically based around their values so make sure you have examples ready. Show that you have a passion for learning and developing, as that is a key trait they look for in an apprentice, and get some experience/knowledge around the role your interested in to really make you stand out (Fun story: I didn't get in my first time applying to UX apprenticeships because I thought it was like Graphics Design so talked about it from that point of view :D, so yeah, do your research).