Support Analyst (Tech Apprentice) Review

My role comes under the bracket of BAS (Business Application Support) for the Investment Bank, I work within the FRC group of the IB. At the moment I am placed within the automation and tooling team, I am heavily focusing on the tooling side which is the monitoring of our apps in order to gain an understanding of how they are performing. My daily tasks include using applications such as Splunk and AppDynamics to build dashboards which help us gain a greater insight into the core of our apps.

I have learnt many skills including communicating effectively, delivering presentations, managing workload, training and coordinating as well as organization. I have completed courses in the apps I use daily such as Splunk, in these courses I learnt how to use the app effectively and build dashboards, building dashboards is a task that I complete daily so this was incredibly useful.

I am enjoying how to work respectively with my team members, ask questions so I challenge myself and sometimes taking work home with me to ensure it is completed. My team members make my learning enjoyable and challenging. Everyone I have worked with has been incredibly welcoming and helpful if I have ever have any questions or needed assistance.

I feel incredibly valued by my team and UBS, I receive a lot of appreciation from my manager who takes a lot of time out of his day to ensure that I understand what I am working on and to answer any questions I may have. Everyone in my team wants to help me succeed and they do not make feel like 'the apprentice' instead I feel like I am integral part of the team.

The induction period was incredibly well structured, we had lots of informative presentations from members of the firm who explained to us their role and the teams they work for. UBS uses a Buddy system, this is where you are paired up with a senior member of the team who you can ask questions and gain assistance from if needed, I have a good working relationship with my buddy as we work together to complete tasks. I receive half a day as study time which is useful as it can be used to study for an upcoming exam or write up any coursework that needs to be completed.

For the Technology apprentices the training provider is QA, I receive lots of support from QA as I have a mentor who visits me at work every 6 weeks to see how I am getting on and also to review any work that has been completed, this is useful as it allows me to express any questions or concerns that I may have. All of the training courses I have attended through QA have been well organised and the trainers have been very informative.

I receive lots of support from my team and manager, If I ever have any issues then I can always ask my manager or buddy who are always happy to help. I really like the approach my manager has towards me as whenever I have a problem which needs to be fixed instead of telling me the solution he will provide me with the resources needed for me to work out the solution myself, this is incredibly useful as I learn from these situations and in future can address these problems myself.

The salary and package provided by UBS is incredibly generous for an apprenticeship which I am grateful for. My most expensive costs are my trains and rent which take up a big chunk of my salary but as long as you are sensible with your money and budget well then you will have no issues.

There are lots of opportunities throughout the year such as, being able to use 2 days as volunteering days where you can volunteer for different causes, such as helping revamp a playground or going to a local school to help teach children about the world of work or pathways other than university.

Yes

Everyone at the firm is incredibly welcoming and helpful, the tasks you will work on are challenging but also rewarding. You will learn something new everyday while also being a integral part of your team. You will be given the assistance needed to quickly find your feet while also receiving the support needed from the firm and training provider.

Ensure you understand the history behind UBS and the culture that the firm abides by. The culture at UBS is incredibly important to the way we work. A good understanding of the financial services UBS provides is also useful when paired with an understanding of the field you want go into. The application process is well laid out although I found the background screening checks to be long winded and inefficient, however this is handled by a third party so has nothing to do with UBS. My assessment day consisted of three interviews, each of which had its own topic.