Apprentice Software Developer Review

I'm an apprentice software developer. Daily tasks include attending daily standups, picking up and completing tasks on the issue management board, reporting to the project leader and regular meetings to discuss ideas. Every day there is a meeting where everyone can report what they did the previous work day and what they will try to achieve today, as well as opportunities to approach anyone in the office with any query at any moment, this is great as everyone wishes to share knowledge be it project specific or for software development as a whole.

The apprenticeship had external training courses for Java, SQL, and Web development, as well as this there has been ample opportunity to learn in the workplace with the tools we use including continuous integration, git repositories, unit testing frameworks, mocking frameworks, other programming languages, design patterns or concepts and ideas; all of this while being surrounded by people who all wants to learn more of the same thing which only promotes the desire to learn and gives more of a platform for doing so.

The programme had a slow start while comprehending how different the methods and workflow from an informal hobbyist are and transitioning to business practices; however I have greatly enjoyed it since as I've had the opportunity to learn new things and apply them in personal projects. The projects can be intimidating upon joining due to lack of experience but the other developers surely make up for it with the support they provide.

In this particular office anyways, the managers always make sure they're approachable and give us the option arrange one on one meetings periodically to discuss any problems we may have. This helps as I feel this helps treat everyone as an individual rather than a collective and gives the opportunity to express oneself, essentially feeling more significant.

The induction wasn't very pleasant, the lessons were extremely subjective, but being taught as thought they were facts, which I strongly disagree with, granted it was interesting to get to meet the other apprentices. The training was great for anyone that had prior experience with the subject, however the training was upfront and simple, it taught us the syntax and how to code, but not why we do things like this, how to think logically, or how to learn effectively. For people like myself it was extremely useful, but for many it was trying to learn from a lecture when the lecturer doesn't speak English. Support was provided, however there was no internet at the venue, so we were unable to access the resources during training. During the apprenticeship there is ample opportunity to study and hold discussions with other team members when you're interested in something in particular, this is one thing that's great about an apprenticeship. In the office they did provide a mentor to support me however this often wasn't the most useful due to high expectations. As someone new to IT with only a small bit of hobbyist experience, I had no confidence, yet was expected to take charge and ask for work, or permission to watch them code. Overall, while the program was extremely useful and educational, the structure was god awful, granted I'm sure this may have been tough luck on my part.

The skills coach provides ample support whether it's discussions for work, the apprenticeship, development or things like rewriting a CV, with easy contact whenever I need it.

Within the office there is ample opportunity for support as well as it seems team members "love" being asked questions and show pride when trying to help others learn, this makes it easy to get use to new tools or have ideas to counter a problem. Management also get on top of personal issues discussed one on one which is always great as well.

It's... good enough, not exactly the "adult and ready to move out" kinda deal but for an apprenticeship, it stands out, especially with what you learn on the job and the experience you gain which is invaluable.

Within the office there are always social events going on, and on occasional campaigns for various things like raising money for a charity. I can definitely vouch there are ample opportunities, I can not elaborate too much on them however as I often do not attend these. (I prefer coding. ^-^')

Yes

It's a somewhat relaxed workplace where people are encouraged to learn and implement good practices; even the things I'm learning here such as the tools I'll often find myself telling others about, continuous integration or testing and mocking frameworks, they may be simple but without a formal body showing us, we only find what we look for and we're usually thinking of ways to develop better, not manage the project better. I would encourage anyone who wishes to learn more about development or what it's like in a business.

Just be yourself, no need to pretend you're someone you're not or "blag" how good you are, as an apprentice they're after people who are willing to learn and adapt, not who believe they know everything there is to know already.