Software Support Analyst Review

My job title is 'software support analyst apprentice'. I work within service management and throughout the apprentice I have worked within 4 different areas of service management. This is to get a detailed overview of what the aims and daily roles of the jobs are. On a daily basis I am involved in 'round the board' meetings, investigative work, dealing with tickets and POW's (program of work), and running datafixes. I have to speak to many people in my team and also communicate with the business to ensure that requirements are understood and ensure that the business are satisfied with what work is being carried out.

Throughout the apprenticeship I have spent 7 weeks (9 by the end) at QA in Birmingham studying different aspects of software development including SQL/PLSQL, ASP.Net, C# fundamentals and Data Modelling. I am also working on several modules to complete the apprenticeship, as well as my day-to-day job. These include research, case studies, professional discussions and providing evidence that I understand the criteria. I have taken part in several internal courses wince being at E.ON and for someone who had extremely little IT knowledge before the apprenticeship I have learnt a lot. I am now able to understand technical terms and work on tickets to resolve issues.

I am really enjoying the programme. I have been here for 8 months now and the amount of knowledge I have developed over this amount is time is more than I ever expected. I feel as though there is a lot to learn, especially because I am moving around teams and each of these teams is different and have alternate ways of working. The programme exceeded my expectations in the amount of information there is to learn and work with. I feel as though it will take a while to learn a lot of the less essential things within the company as the majority is from experience.

I feel very valued by E.ON. The fact that E.ON employed me even with very little IT background makes me feel very appreciated. The appreciation from my managers is shown by regular feedback on a monthly report that I go through with my manager at the end of each month.

As one of the first E.ON IT apprentices there was a slight risk with how the apprenticeship was going to work as it is structured differently to a normal apprenticeship. Rather than having one job role for the duration I have to experience several different roles - meaning it is a lot to learn and develop on. The overall structure is very well planned out and organised. It was up to the team leaders to organise the tasks I would be doing in each team and I understand that each of the team leaders took this responsibility well and came up with a structured plan. I also have a mentor who I meet with on a regular basis. I think this is a really good idea as I am able to speak to someone who isn't a team leader or direct colleague about any issues I may have. I get a lot of support from my mentor which is something I think is very important.

The training provider for the apprenticeship is QA. When I attend the training sessions in Birmingham I find these very well planned out and beneficial to my learning. I am always assisted well from the tutor and he ensures that I understand everything we go through. There is also a QA assessor that comes to E.ON roughly on a monthly basis who supports me through the modules I am completing. I am always able to ask questions if there's something i'm unsure on and she has a great attitude towards the way she deals with problems. However when handing work in it does take a long time for it to be marked and to get any feedback. I have been informed that this is due to workload.

There are many colleagues that I can ask if I need to know something. It comes with experience knowing who to contact for certain queries. My mentor is very supportive and helps me out with all sorts of things from confidence to technical questions. My manager is also supportive however I find that I can confide in my mentor more comfortably. The amount of support available is really good in my opinion. There is always people to ask and if they aren't sure then they will know who to ask which I think is very important.

As a homeowner who drives to work every day it was important that the salary was able to cover this. The salary actually exceeded my expectations as usually when you hear someone is on an apprenticeship the automatic assumption is that the wages aren't great. We have a salary plan that increases in relation to exams and modules that are completed. I think this was a really good way of doing it as it also puts incentives to get work done and carry on improving. I am able to afford living costs and have a good social life which is important as a young adult. I am grateful that the salary is high enough to enable me to do this.

At lunchtimes at E.ON there are always activities going on such as running, squash and fitness bootcamps. The teams often have organised nights out as well which I think is really good for staff morale. Especially as apprentices as it gives the opportunity to get to know the team better. Before starting the apprenticeship I was working in bars and restaurants so this opportunity was very important due to my lack of experience!

Yes

I would definitely recommend E.ON to a friend. There are so many benefits of working for such a valued company and the support and training is of such a high standard; I can't see much room for improvement! There are other benefits such as the pension scheme and other benefits such as healthcare, food discounts, cinema discounts, dental cover etc.

I would say that honesty is important when applying for E.ON. Ensure to include all of you qualities in your CV. At the assessment day be confident and another tip would be to do some company research beforehand, and also some research into the job role you are applying for.