IT Degree Apprentice Review

At the time of writing, I am currently in the Programme Management Office (PMO) Team in one of our business areas under the IT Department, mainly responsible for developing and maintaining the automated Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Tools and Data to allow and steer the thorough analysis on projects and programme performance.

On this rotation, I have a chance to develop a new set of skills about the best practices on ensuring 1. quality on running projects and programmes and 2. integrity and quality of data we use for the analysis. And to achieve this I was able to use my existing skills on programming to develop the automated tools to enhance the analysis process.

I enjoyed the programme as it provides me an opportunity to be in an area whose work or responsibility is not something I experienced before (such as Projects and Programme Management, IT Infrastructure Support), this makes my learning quite an exciting one and provide an opportunity for me to know more people in the company.

I feel genuinely valued by SSE as the work that I am currently doing enhances the analysis process and will be used by the team to bring about the important project delivery highlights that contributes into discussion that could hopefully improve the performance of the projects and programme delivery in our business area altogether.

The programme has a structure to ensure that each rotation that I will be working in is enjoyable and educational, whilst at the same time ensuring the balance between work for which I am responsible and the university study; however, since the company has not got an experience in running the Degree Apprenticeship programme before, there were some unforeseen and unexpected issues. In effect, the programme is facing a number of challenges where individual apprentices have a different experience depending on the area in which they are working – some are good and some are not so good. However, this has been discussed monthly for finding areas of improvement to improve and consolidate the quality of the programme.

The support at the university (the course provider) was good. Due to the uniqueness of the Degree Apprenticeship students to full-time and part-time students where we have the full-time responsibility at our workplace, the university has managed to accommodate the facilities that helps us to achieve the studying effectively. However, since this is the first time that the University has an experience of doing Degree Apprenticeship programmes, there is an ongoing process of improvement collaborated by the university and the employers.

The support by the employer was fantastic where it is always there for any issues I have. There is a regular catch-up with a personal tutor, a line manager and a workplace manager at work to discuss about the progress of my learning and my duty at work, and discuss any issues or blockers that may arise.

The salary is acceptable and close to the rate set by the Living Wage Foundation and it is higher than the standard rates of apprenticeship programme. There is also an agreed collective pay rise throughout the company at the end of the financial year. Apprentices will also have a performance review annually with either a placement manager or a line manager to discuss about the performance, however due to the nature of the programme, the performance review does not dictate the pay.

In terms of non-work activities, employees at the company have an early access to book many exclusive events take place in company-sponsored venues in a discounted price. Additionally, every employee at the company has a chance to volunteer by taking a paid voluntary day – ‘Make a difference Day’ to volunteer their service to the local community. There is also a series of ‘Roadshows’ going across company’s offices in the country where employees can participate.

Yes

The attitude for willing to change, the support structure, the culture of working, and people at SSE really makes SSE a great place to work. The uniqueness about the Degree Apprenticeship Programme at SSE is that the main emphasis is not being in one particular team and undertake the same responsibility throughout the course of the programme, but it is having an experience in different areas in the department for a period of time to learn and get the exposure of as many things as possible. This provides degree apprentices an opportunity to explore on areas of work they may not have an experience in and make a right career choice in the future.

Confidence is everything as this will improve the performance throughout the recruitment process. Your ability to speak up and ask questions will be one of the ways to show that you have an interest in what SSE is doing and whether you want to be part of it as well. Know your strength as use it at every opportunity you can.