Apprentice Business Analyst Review

by Sage

Best Apprenticeship Employer

Rating

8/10

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

I work with more technical teams, so as well as gathering requirements and running workshops around projects. I also look at data flow, databases and develop rules and layouts for UI design

8/10

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

Yes, as well as the core BA skills (communication, documentation etc.) I have also learnt a lot around SQL scripting and data skills (Validation, cleaning, manipulation) and other more niche technical skills

8/10

3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

In terms of the training from Assist very much so, I feel like I always learn a lot on their courses and they go into a decent amount of detail, I also find them really approachable for any questions. My tutor is also really great and supportive to me.

10/10

4. How well organised/structured is your programme?

Really like the structure of the course decent break between the learning to not overload you, provided with tools and e-learning to help and support you. And very flexible to move stuff around should you have arrangements.

10/10

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

I've been here 1 and a half years. Within the first 2 months of my apprenticeship my internal mentor was made redundant, I was then left for around 3 months with no internal support to run a project. Sage has been very poor with this, do not feel supported at all (This could go for the whole company workforce at this point in time)

2/10

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

On a positive the training provider has been excellent, my mentor always spends time with me and made up for my lack of support from Sage by helping me through with questions and answers, this alongside the courses and learning has been a great help

9/10

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

I feel like it does help a lot, I can really see where techniques and tools fall into place and I am applying them myself into the work I come up against.

10/10

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.)

N/A, but there are a lot to chose from should you be interested.

7/10

9a. Would you recommend Sage to a friend?

9b. Why?

When I first started, it would have been a yes. However the culture now has totally changed, there are redundancies left, right and centre and no clear direction. The people who work here are great and really support you, we have some close knit teams. However the upper management is really wasting the potential and fostering a bad culture within Sage currently, where I can safely say not many people are happy.

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

I would say be yourself, no matter the direction of the business, the skills and connections you can make really make this place. The "People" part of the Sage values are followed by the staff (Not seemingly management) and it stands true.