MES Apprentice Review

This role is very versatile with both online and onsite work so every day can look different. Onsite work can include working in data centres or in customer offices and doing tasks such as physically putting kit into cabinets, trouble shooting or making changes to the physical set up of the racks. Online includes joining team calls, logging onto kit, updating software etc.

I am currently in my 1st year of this apprenticeship and have already learnt a lot about not only the work and networking but also about how to work in industry and large corporations.

I have really enjoyed my apprenticeship so far and have felt that the transition from school into this role has been smooth and supported. I have worked with many different people and travelled to different sites and everyone I have worked with so far have been helpful and nice.

As part of this apprenticeship, we have one day a week which has been dedicated to university where we attend online calls and have time to complete assignments. This structure means we have time to dedicate to learning as well as work. However, the structure from the university's side has been slightly more difficult.

When I joined, we are each given a mentor who supports you with learning and any other things you need to know to feel comfortable when starting. When I started I did most of my work with my mentor, however, as I got further into the apprenticeship I also joined some other apprentices and engineers on their work as well. So the whole team also supports your learning. My manager is also really supportive and makes sure we are all happy and have things to do.

Every 8 weeks, we have meetings with someone in our university and our manager/mentor to check our progress, add goals for the next meeting and also give us a chance to bring up any issues we are having. The lecturers have also been supportive from my experience as you can reach out with any questions even if it is not on your dedicated uni day.

At the moment I am in my 1st year so a lot of the university modules have been broad topics within computer science. However, once those modules (such as networking, software development, business skills etc) have been completed, we have specified modules for our paths (e.g. mine is networking) which will be more relevant to my daily role.

Alongside clubs you can join within early careers (apprentices and grads), there are also often events organised by the early careers committee which provides chances to meet up with everyone for the day or for an event in the evening (e.g. London socials in the evening, netball, pottery painting etc).

Yes

Overall, my experience has been very positive. I have felt supported and can see where this role can take me in the future. As well as this, being in Vodafone provides so many other paths in the future if you wish to take them or want a role change.

Be yourself in interviews, they are not looking for someone who is already perfect for the role, but for someone who is willing to work towards it and wants to grow.