Trainee software developer Review

Trainee software developer, currently spend my time either testing the current version of the software or working on small developing projects related to the software development fundamental skills that I need to acquire to be able to fit the role of a graduate developer within the organisation. My daily interactions include discussing the program currently in development with the junior and senior software developers, discussing how I may be able to contribute to this development. Regular chats with my project manager about how things are going, any potential tasks they would like me to be getting on with.

I was funded to go and do some external training; Microsoft Technology Associate, Software development fundamentals in C# certification. I have learnt a lot about the various job roles of my colleagues and how these fit together to deliver the project requirements, how to communicate in a more professional way both face-to-face and e-mail/telephone.

Really enjoy my time spent at CGI, working with a great time of people and the culture and values that the company upholds suits me very well. It has met and exceeded my expectations and am very happy to be on the programme; although I am currently slightly underwhelmed by the content of the degree side of things.

I do feel valued by the other members, I have been provided internal recognition for my current career focus and been supported by funding to go on external training as well as an appreciation from my manager and colleagues for my current position within the company and that an investment on their parts to help me get to where I want to be (graduate software developer role) and how I can go about achieving that whilst still contributing to the project in other ways whilst I'm developing these skills (software testing)

Slightly chaotic to begin with, took a long while to get settled in as their were some issues with my on boarding process so I had to remain on the bench for a few weeks and was told I would start work in one location and then it turned out to be another, this actually turned out to be convenient for me because it was closer to my current living location but made me slightly concerned at the level of organisation. The induction was well organised and provided me with a good foundation for starting the company, advice on how to make the most out of our time at CGI and the values that CGI represents. The university side of things is fairly well organised in terms of structure of days, where we need to be when and what we will be doing but there has been confusion with some of the assignments given due to the assignment briefs being unclear, it's also structured in a primarily business focused way and I was hoping for it to be more technical than it has been as I'm doing the technical stream of the course, hopefully this will develop in the later years.

Support is good, we go to university one day a week so any questions that we have about our current work we have time allocated in the sessions to discuss this with our teacher and then have all the content that is required to do our assignments is available on their website as well as a large amount of physical and online academic resources, to use to support our research.

Having built up a good rapport with the members of my team the support I receive has been excellent, my manager and colleagues have a good attitude towards the apprenticeship scheme and working with me and have an appreciation for my current circumstance. As well as the mentor scheme which has been very beneficial for learning about the organisation.

I'm happy with the current package I'm on when factoring in living, travel and social costs I still have some money left over to contribute towards my pension as well building up savings.

There's a sports and social club in which you can enrol yourself on to for £5p/m this allows yourself or any other member to set up activities to go and do such as go for a meal, a comedy show for an evening or a sporting activity such as going climbing and provided 3 other members also want to go then funding can be sourced to go and do these activities. There are also charity and health schemes that people can enrol on to for other activities.

Yes

Nice place to work in terms of company culture and values, clear opportunities for career progression and I'm enjoying my time spent here so far.

Within the application process obvious things like dressing up smart, not only making sure you're on time but with a reasonable amount of time to spare. Learn about the organisation before going to interview, be confident and make sure to asks lots of questions around the course so you know whether it's right for you.