Business Analyst Review

I'm currently working as part of an exciting innovation team who work on 6-8 week 'proof of concepts' (POC) - this means we get our hands on some of the latest and greatest technologies! Specifically, I work as a Business Analyst, which means it's my responsibility to work with the Product Owner and client stakeholders to ensure the solution delivered is what the client asked for, and that it solves the problems they currently face. I perform research on the 'current' user journey of an application or system and think how it could be made quicker, easier, or more enjoyable, and how our POC could help achieve those goals. This also involves hosting 'Design Thinking' sessions for the team at the start of each POC to help ideate potential solutions, as well as documenting the use cases and pain points that our solution can solve from a business perspective.

Being a Degree Apprentice, I essentially have 3 'prongs' to my learning - One being the technology theory (uni studies), one being professional conduct, and the other being more practical, i.e the application of these technologies/methods etc within the workplace. Initially, before even touching on technology, there was a lot to learn about Accenture as an organisation, as well as soft skills such as professional conduct and behaviours - these are skills which can be applied in any job role and are a vital foundation to success. Throughout my university studies, I have learnt a wide variety of both business-related and more technical topics, such as Strategy, SQL, User Experience Design and AI; all of which have been relevant to the market trends of today. Perhaps some of my most important learnings have been within the workplace, where I have had the opportunity to play a key role in technology delivery projects and have seen the real-world application of our work.

Working in an Innovation team allows for so much variety in my work, since every 6-8 weeks we transition into a new project. This means a new problem to solve, new technologies to work with and new stakeholders to engage with. The fast-paced way of working means you never (or very rarely!) feel bored and that there's always something new to learn. Looking at the Degree Apprenticeship in general, I love that fact that Accenture sponsor my way through the degree (for obvious reasons!), as well as the fact that there's a great community of other Apprentices on the scheme.

After the first two years of your time on the Apprenticeship scheme, you are fast-tracked to graduate level, despite not yet obtaining a degree. Plus, there's definitely not tea making here - it's real work, real clients and real problems to solve, so Apprentices are definitely valued within the company.

The Apprenticeship scheme is well structured, with initial training occurring for a whole month, meaning you are eased into your job. Following this, you are given both a line manager and career counselor to ensure you are on track with studies and your project work. Apprentices are given a number of hours each year to study (on top of days at university), which is great to use when uni work gets busy!

Support from QA (uni training provider) is good in general, and most lecturers are brilliant at what they do. However, some are somewhat lacking and not the most responsive. Overall, support is provided through a 'skills coach', who meets with Apprentices every 1-2 months to check up on our uni work progress and any issues we may have.

On the scheme, you are given both a line manager and career counselor to ensure you are on track with studies and your project work, both of which are encouraged to arrange regular 1-1 meetings with you. Additionally, Apprentices are encouraged to help eachother and we often meet up to discuss uni work.

As previously mentioned, after the first two years of your time on the Apprenticeship scheme, you are fast-tracked to graduate level, despite not yet obtaining a degree. Plus, whilst an Apprentice you have access to student discounts such as 1/3 off the tube/national rail, NUS discounts and more. One of the best Accenture benefits is 50% off all gyms - Accenture will reimburse 1/2 your gym expense (up to £30) every month! However, London is very expensive!

Outside of project work there are lots of opportunities for networking and speaking to people at events - something which has allowed me to practice my public speaking skills. There are also lots of opportunities to speak at schools and events about promoting the Apprenticeship, as well as social events such as Apprentice meet ups, project meals and work Xmas parties. On top of this, we are also given 3 paid charity days every year - a brilliant opportunity to give back without having to take holiday.

Yes

The fast-paced way of working means you never (or very rarely!) feel bored and that there's always something new to learn. Looking at the Degree Apprenticeship in general, I love that fact that Accenture sponsor my way through the degree (for obvious reasons!), as well as the fact that there's a great community of other Apprentices on the scheme.

Regarding interview and application tips, my main advice would be to be yourself and remain friendly - interviewers employ people they would want to work with themselves, so enthusiasm and personality is key! Once successful, I advise taking as many opportunities as you can, though this is not always easy with a day job and university studies on the side. By following this rule as best as I could, I actually gained a place on all my projects purely through networking and speaking to people at events.