Technical Solutions Specialist Review

I am a technical solutions specialist working in the software support team. Daily tasks involve carrying out code deployments and updating and fixing software for a client. I have lots of responsibility within the team and I am now trusted to work in the production environment. I work on various projects.

I have been on many courses including, project management, UNIX fundamentals and consulting skills. Some of these are external whereas most are IBM courses. They are taught me both personal and professional skills.

I enjoy work and it is very flexible. The team I work with are amazing and are always willing to help where possible. The culture of my team is better than most and we have many social nights outside of work. I enjoy the programme and would recommend it to anyone.

My manager greatly appreciates the work that I carry out. I receive a grade each year which reflects my performance. If the grade is good, a payrise will be given as recognition for hard work. I am involved in lots of projects and think I bring value to the company already even though I am an apprentice. I have been valued from day 1 as IBM are very proud of their apprentice scheme.

The structure of the programme varies from person to person in IBM as we are all given completely different roles. The induction stage and support is the same. We follow the same courses and are each given a manager, mentor and buddy. The programme is well organised and courses are run at set stages in your career.

At IBM we do not have a training provider as such. Our provider is IBM themself as the advice that we are given is excellent. If we have any problems there are various different people that we can talk to and I am always sure that I can tell people in confidence.

I get lots of support from my manager. I have a personal development manager and a manager in the office within my team. Both of these work together to ensure that I get the results that I want out of the apprenticeship. My mentor holds fortnightly meetings with me to check on progress and ask if I have any issues that I want to raise. If there are any problems inside or outside of the office then I feel that there is always someone there to talk to.

I live at home with my parents and do not pay any rent. I sometimes walk to work however if not, it is only a 5-10 minute drive. The money that I receive from IBM meets my living costs and I am able to save lots of money for the future. There are constant pay increases which mean that I am able to increase my standard of living and save for a mortgage for the future.

There are many events outside of work. We have Christmas parties and nights out when large projects come to an end successfully. There is an IBM club which I am a part of and being in this means you have the opportunity to go on lots of trips and excursions at a discounted rate. IBM have lots of sport clubs that you can join.

Yes

I have already recommended a friend to IBM and they started working a few months ago. The scheme has so many opportunities for young people and once in, it is possible to take whichever direction you feel is best so long as you try your hardest and really put your mind to it. You receive a laptop from IBM and an excellent salary which beats any other apprenticeship. The support is wonderful and I would definitely keep telling people to join

I would say put a lot of time into the application process as this is the hardest part. When you are accepted and given an interview, just be yourself as they don't want people that already know everything about technology. No technical knowledge is required as this apprenticeship is about starting from scratch and learning everything through IBM.