Apprentice Developer Review

I'm an apprentice software developer. My daily work can change from day to day. Currently I'm doing App Support on a Scottish Government project. This entails fixing Sonar violations and sorting code duplications. Most of the apprenticeship has been working on this project.

I have learnt a lot of new skills since I started my apprenticeship. I got to use a lot of different technologies and experience a few different parts of software development. When we first joined our company gave us a bootcamp which taught us the general technologies used within the centre and how to manage an end to end project. Since then we occasionally get some down time that we can do courses online etc. We have also been put out to training courses as part of QA. Unfortunately the training wasn't great but this was resolved and we go to re do courses.

I really enjoy the team I'm part of, the company culture and the support I receive. Unfortunately I don't enjoy the work I'm currently doing but this is due to unfortunate circumstances and I think this will change in the future. As a whole though I think the programme is great. I get work experience, qualifications and new skills. People who go straight to university or college don't get the opportunities and skills I get. I think there is thing that need to be approved, but it is a new concept and I think these will change in the future. The actual training for the apprenticeship needs to be improved in my opinion, it isn't really up to a good standard. If I didn't put time in at home and have down time in work to learn I don't think id be in a good position or enjoy the programme as much as I am.

I'm not sure if I feel valued by CGI. It's such a massive company that I think it's hard to feel valued. I think with the current position that all the apprentices are on the same project. It's hard to feel valued as I don't get an opportunity to go onto a project with people of different levels and see how I get on. I do feel valued in my team though in terms of my project leads. They recognise the skills I have and the help I can give to other members of the team. I also feel valued by my fellow apprentices they ask for help and recognise I can help them.

I think the Structure of the programme needs improving. The induction when joining the company was good as we done a Bootcamp which was set up well and I personally learned some valuable tech. The training I think needs a big revamp. I don't think any of the training we received from QA was satisfactory and I came a way from most of the courses feeling like I didn't learn anything. QA rushed most of the courses and a lot of the content isn't really relevant to what we are doing in work. In the company we do receive a lot of support, there is many channels for us to go through with questions and concerns. I'm an MA Rep which means apprentices come to me with concerns and questions. So I know these are dealt with. I think the team hierarchy could be different. Currently the MA's are all on the same project, I think it could be more beneficial if we span across different projects. I think the programme is well organised the training just needs improving.

I don't really go to the training provider for support as they are pretty useless. Any replies I get from my assessor are usually late or just don't make sense. They regularly take a while to send files and just can't really answer questions properly. I don't really enjoy my training through the provider as it isn't really beneficial.

I receive a lot of support from my employer when I look for it. There are many channels for me to go down if I need help and when I request external training courses we usually get to go on them. I can go to my career mentor for guidance on my career path and any questions I have. There is a range of different ways to get support.

I find my salary package amazing. The starting salary was really good compared to other apprenticeships and the pay rise we got was very good. The only thing is there needs to be more light shed on the pay scale, there's a complete lack of information and no one knows the answers to them.

There are a lot of opportunities outside of work. We run a sports and social club which allows us to go to many subsidised events, we are going to a vip cinema experience at the end of this month completely free. There is also opportunities to go to career fairs and talk to people that are looking into doing apprenticeships and other similar programmes.

Yes

I wouldn't recommend CGI as a whole. But I would recommend the part of CGI I work at. The office environment is amazing, it is laid back and everyone is really friendly, but people are still very hard working and intelligent. The office is full of people looking to help you, give you advice and direct you. The pay for the apprenticeship is also very good.

Learn a technology you know you are going to use when you join. This prepares you for the internet and for when you join. Another thing is learn to research. Researching a question before you ask someone is a massive part of software development. Instead of taking up time of someone who is busy, sticking a question into google, learning and researching yourself is a really important thing.