Desktop Engineer Review

I was firstly introduced into the desktop engineering team within Barclays. Roles within team revolve vulnerability management, daily compliance management, incident management, and other desktop related work. As an apprentice my day by day role varies quite frequently to ensure I am getting a feel for many jobs around the team. My apprentice role involves attending university one day every week (on day release) which allows my university work to be done.

As an apprentice it is second nature to pick up new skills and develop already existing skills. My work currently includes using Excel, when joining Barclays my excel knowledge was good however not close to what was required to work on large numbers when investigating compliance figures across the Barclays estate. Learning new forms of excel formula grew as my involvement of role grew. Time management is another skill which has been developed massively. Throughout college I learned to use my time well for revision and coursework, however in the degree apprenticeship, time management is vital to ensure a successful apprenticeship experience. Handling deadlines as well as responsibilities is massively required when being a degree apprentice, however if managing your time well you will be successful.

I enjoy my degree apprenticeship programme vastly. Adjusting to the workloads and getting used to a working routine was somewhat difficult however the correct network of support and training is provided as well as a very welcoming and helpful atmosphere within Barclays which allows a much more easier settling in process and allows you to enjoy working there a lot more.

The degree apprenticeship programme within Barclays is extremely organised and is very structured in terms of your pathway to completing your degree. Again, the correct support and facilities/ training are provided to you which only requires you to show up. Everything else is taken care of in the background which is a huge help when managing work and university life.

As mentioned throughout the questionnaire, the support you receive is massive as a degree apprentice. You're provided a technical buddy who is assigned in your team who is very experienced and guides you along your working life. A apprentice buddy is also assigned who helps hugely with adjusting to life as an apprentice. Support from you apprentice managers and university liaison tutors is also very useful, regular meetings and check ups allow you to remain on track and any advice or questions you need to ask are always supplied to the best of their ability.

As mentioned previously, as part of your degree apprenticeship, you're provided with a university liaison tutor who arranges regular meetings and offers loads of support for anything you need. This can be used for uni advice, work advice or even life advice, these tutors are very supporting and make you feel very comfortable when talking to them.

Having the qualification and the teaching in university is applied massively to my job role and allows for greater success in both and you can learn from each aspect of your work. The university course covers a wide range of IT from marketing management to coding which allows you to apply the necessary learning into your job role.

There is tonnes of extra activities you can get involved with within Barclays. The Radbroke hall campus has 5 a side football pitches as well as tennis courts, squash courts, 11 a side football pitches, an onsite gym with spinning classes etc. I am currently a member at the onsite gym and have also been involved in the football teams.

Yes

Having a degree apprenticeship is one of the most rewarding and beneficial routes to take for your career. I have already recommended this course at Barclays to many of my friend who have which have applied and are now a part of Barclays apprenticeship schemes. One of the most compelling arguments I have for someone looking to join is the 'win-win' aspect of the degree apprenticeship. Not only do you work full time and gain experience in a working environment (Win), but you also gain a degree qualification and the end of it, debt free (Win).

If you apply and get invited to the Barclays assessment day, use the advice I was given when I went to Barclays. 'Just do what you can to put yourself out there', you will be assessed by other members of staff who look for good teamwork skills as well as being able to work efficiently and are well mannered and are a pleasure to work with. If you do this and complete the other simple skills tests you will have no issue with the assessment day.