Mainframe Performance Analyst Review

On most days I get into the office for 9:15, then start the morning checks for my team, which involve general performance checks to ensure our systems are running correctly. I then have my team call, before I head off for an hour's lunch. The afternoon is usually taken up by meetings or general performance work, which can range from creating new spreadsheets for configurations to investigating performance issues that are reported to my team.

Since I started the apprenticeship I've definitely got better at Excel work, because my team use it every day. I've also started learning programming in PHP and Rexx, with the end goal of developing a new system for my team to use to store configurations online. This will replace the spreadsheet systems that we already have in place. At uni I've developed on my computer science skills through the degree. We also get access to pluralsight to take any courses we want for free.

The course is brilliant overall. I do feel like I'm missing out on the social aspect of student life, and it was especially difficult for me as I had to move to the area and there was no system provided by the company for us to meet other apprentices, which would have allowed me to sort out a roommate beforehand. Work/life balance can also become a little difficult especially during exam season, and some apprentices are busier than others, however, it is made up for by the degree being completely paid for. Sadly, we don't get any of our travel expenses for University paid, which is quite disappointing. The company also generally don't allow us many opportunities to travel.

The programme is very well structured - there is plenty of training both at work and at uni which is specific to our job roles and helps us with our everyday work. We do still get enough free reign with our time though to do whatever we want, and are delegated a lot of tasks which involve more responsibility, such as the ability to work on live systems. Apprentices get the same treatment as full time employees, which is amazing.

Each apprentice has a line manager, a career coach, a technical buddy, a mentor and an apprentice buddy, meaning that there is an extensive network of support. This doesn't even include the other team members, who are often more than happy to pass on their extensive knowledge to us to teach us about the technologies we use.

We have regular University review meetings at work, which allows our employer to liaise with the University and keep up with our grades and feedback. We also have all the perks of being an MMU student, which allows us access to the campus, and the library and discounts, which is very good. MMU have been helpful most of the time when there's been a problem, specifically through the employer liaison.

Unfortunately, not all of the university course is directly applicable to the workplace. Some of our business lectures could be applied to the workplace as they are very broad, however, the computing and programming lectures generally do not relate to the workplace. For example, I'm taught coding at Uni, even though my team do not do any coding and only work on infrastructure. This is not to say though that the quality of what we are being taught is bad.

Yes - Barclays have lots of clubs and societies that you can join. Examples are board games clubs, public speaking groups, debating groups, and sports groups, which are supported by all the facilities that we have on site. Unfortunately I don't have the time for most of these clubs, and I do not know many other apprentices that take part in them.

Yes

Barclays are a brilliant company to start at, as they are so good to their apprentices. You may not have the most opportunities to travel, and their expense budget is very tight, but they still can be very generous with apprentices for some areas. It also helps that there are lots of other apprentices on site, meaning that there are a lot of other like-minded young people.

Make sure that you say how interested you are in the job, and show your interest for Barclays and Technology in your application. For the assessment centre, stay calm, be yourself and talk to people and make friends. Don't try too hard to take control of the group activities, but focus on being helpful and being a member of the group. And practice coding in Scratch!