Degree Apprentice Review

My current role in my placement is varied, it consists of support our in house time-sheet system, creating and publishing IT Governance Documentation for Projects and Programmes following Prince 2 and MSP and collating and reporting on Project Expenditure on a monthly basis which get review and approved by members of the senior leadership team.

I have learned a lot of new skills while on the apprenticeship which includes lots of soft skills as well as technical ones. My communication, teamwork and presentation skills have massively improved since I have joined the scheme and due to the diverse nature of the placements I have also developed a good range of technical skills from troubleshooting hardware and software faults to coding as part of new projects

I enjoy the programme a lot, the staff have been very welcoming and are always around to help if I have any queries as well as this I have made great friends with the other apprentices on the scheme which has resulted in a positive and social environment to work in. I also have enjoyed the university section of the scheme.

The scheme is very structured and has a clear system of how you move through each placement which should leave you with a great range of skills and experience to leave you with the best information possible before moving into a career area. However there is sometimes a lack of clarity and information regarding the placements and where we will be moving to next which feels unorganised.

We get a good amount of support from our employer. We have good channels to talk to other staff members such as Placement Managers, Line Managers and HR representatives. We are also assigned a mentor who we can use as an independent channel of communication in to air any issues we are having in or out of work that we would prefer not to discuss with our personal management

The university give a good level of support, we are also assigned a Uni mentor along with our work mentor that we can go to if we have any issues with any of the modules or assessments they also are able to help by proof reading assignments and give feedback and advice to us. Our lectures have also been very good when it comes to support for example being able to have phone or Skype 1-1's when we are not able to be on campus due to work.

I think it is a mixed bag as some of the stuff have a good amount of translation into the workplace and I have been able to apply theories that we have been studying to real work scenarios. However some of the modules we have completed have not had any correlation with anything we have been doing at work but these have still been interesting topics.

I do not personally due to social commitments at home and the fact that I live a 40 minute commute from the office but I am aware of lots of activities that are run through work like Running clubs and 5 aside football on week nights and it is something that i always keep my eye on if anything comes up that fit with my scedule and i am interested in I will definitely sign up

Yes

Because it gives you such a leg up on other people our age you will finish the scheme with 4 years on varied work experience a full BSC Degree and a job in an area of of IT that you are interested in. This is all without any University Student Debt so I believe it is a great option for anyone interested in IT who was planning on just going the standard University route

Make sure that you come prepared to any interviews, assessment centre or presentations. I would also recommend doing research on the company as it will give you a better understanding of our values and way of working which you can use in interview or presentation situations and this also demonstrates that you have a interest in the job and the company that assessors will like