I.T. Systems Engineer Review

I work on the I.T. team within one of the secure projects that CGI works on. This involves working on general support for the members and also upgrading and working on the I.T. infrastructure which involves both the software and hardware side. Sometimes it is required for me to travel to other CGI offices such as recently I was required to travel to the Netherlands for a few days.

I have already gained a large of office skills that have helped me. I am also learning through the Degree side of the apprenticeship. There also are many qualifications on offer which I plan on taking in the summer which are offered free of charge if you can justify why it would

I enjoy working on the team that I am on, everyone is friendly together and is willing to help. I enjoy my work although sometimes I feel that I am not always learning much as I am sometimes given the tasks that no one else wants to do. This is likely to change soon as I gain more experience and I have begun to get more complicated tasks.

Most of the time I feel valued, as I have received regular feedback from people that I have done work for. Bonuses are also given in general and also if you have excelled at something that you have worked on in particular. When you first join you are included in all discussions almost immediately and quickly feel valued as part of the team.

The program is very well thought through which is a result of it being run for so long. You are provided a mentor throughout the 3 years which is very useful for when you have any questions that need answering. Textbooks are also provided by CGI which I have found are useful for the assignments.

The course at University is well structured as you get a well rounded experience from many topics. Most tutors are always available to answer questions about content and if you would like a piece of work to be reviewed. Sometimes there have been occasions where I struggle to get an answer in time but this is not too frequent. I enjoy most of the work set by the tutors but some could have a bit better guidance.

If I have had any issues I have been able to contact the student recruitment team who have been able to provide an answer quickly and have been able to solve any problem that I have had. It has been made very easy to contact people such as my mentor if I have any issues. The only room for improvement would be if my manager understood more about the program to be able to support me.

I currently live at home so the salary is enough to do things that I enjoy and live comfortably. It is hard to save money at the moment but I am still at an advantage as I am not accumulating debt at University at my age. My biggest travel expense is the commute to the University of Winchester each week.

There are many opportunities available outside of work. CGI have a "Sports and Social club" which costs just £5 a month and allows you to get heavily discounted tickets for many events that are organised by CGI. There are also many opportunities to volunteer in the local community and also at career fairs.

Yes

It is a friendly place to work where you feel almost instantly included within the team. The Degree Apprenticeship offered is very competitive and I found it to be the most attractive out of most offered by other companies due to the support available. There are also many different types of jobs available that you can move into if you no longer enjoy your job and therefore you are not stuck in a position you don't want to be in.

The application process was quite long but I was glad I did it. I applied in October 2016 using the online application, then had my assessment centre in February and I then finally had a second interview at the project I would be working on. At the assessment centre it is important to speak up, to show that you are able to contribute to discussions and would work well in a team.