Technology Consultant Review

Project based business consulting. Meeting with key people discuss transitioning of business process. Producing deliverables for clients and discussing benefits and impacts of implementing new processes and procedures. On the college side, it is more software development focused and doesn't apply directly to my day to day role within the business.

Within college I have further developed existing programming skills. This has been really helpful as I have been able to learn industry conventions within the space. As for work, I have learned a lot of new skills. I have been supported with on the job training to develop my knowledge of business as this is something I have little previous experience in.

I really enjoy the work side of my apprenticeship. It is constantly varying due to the rotation of projects. I have learned to take responsibility in finding opportunities that I will enjoy and benefit me the most. College seems slow as I have previous experience, therefore I don't enjoy and compulsory attendance seems pointless for me.

The college portion of me apprenticeship seems unorganised, fortunately I have previous experience in the content. If this was not the case I would expect I would struggle. The work aspect seems separate from my learning. This suits me however there is no real structure linking the learning. As mentioned before, because of this. I have had to learn to take responsibility in the opportunities I get tagged to,

Employer support isn't great. As the programme is only in its second year, awareness isn't wide spread and I have to explain that I'm an apprentice. This has it's drawbacks as people assume I am not experienced and don't know anything. It is only once I start and prove myself that people begin to acknowledge me.

As already mentioned, the college is unorganised. Also, it is not clear what we need to learn to meet the requirements for our qualification. Timescales are always moving and content is not effectively delivered. They do ask for feedback regularly but I have yet to see any actions taken based on the feedback we give.

As already mentioned, there is no real link between college and work. They seem very separate and it is difficult to see how applicable the qualification is. Due to the nature of work carried out by the firm it is difficult to find projects that link to my qualification. However, some of the knowledge picked up from college have allowed me to understand concepts within my projects at work.

There are multiple social groups within the firm. Personally I am not part of them and awareness isn't particularly wide spread. I joined with a cohort of graduates and went through training with them. This allowed me to network and build a social circle very quickly. We often have social events organised within this group.

Yes

There is independence from the outset. You are responsible for the work you complete and nobody will be looking over your shoulder. This works very will for me as I pick things up quickly and prefer being able to go off and work stuff out for myself. There is also great social opportunities within the firm and they provide some really good networking opportunities.

For me, being able to show my technical knowledge really helped me get onto the programme. There is a push towards tech consultancy within the company and it is great to be apart of its growth. You have to show you can be responsible for your own work and adaptability is very important as the projects will vary massively.