I.T. Infrastructure Engineer Review

My main responsibility is to manage all the workstations between 3 projects to ensure they are kept up to date, running efficiently and ensuring that they can be deployed quickly to new joiners. I am also involved in 1st, 2nd a 3rd line support of the I.T. infrastructure which can involve managing servers, providing technical support, network support tasks, backup infrastructure and more. This means I get to interact with most people within the project and therefore. I enjoy this technical part of the work. However, sometimes there can be dull paperwork tasks which includes managing the asset database and completing forms for new joiners.

Within the first 6 months of joining, I struggled to learn many new skills as I was often given the boring non-technical admin tasks which were demotivating. However, over the last year I have begun to learn a lot and now would say I have skills that will benefit through my career. This is dependent on the project though as some of the skills I have learnt might be quite outdated now and there are some projects which are much more on the forefront of technology.

I enjoy my role at work now and I am glad I chose this instead of a full on university course as I have learnt a lot more this way and can earn money at the same time. Some of the university experience has not been that enjoyable due to the poor lecturing quality and lack of structure which makes it difficult to learn effectively. This puts more stress on me at home as I feel I need to learn the content in other ways.

The program is well structured by CGI as you always know when certain things will be happening and textbooks are always provided when required. This is likely because it has been running for some time. There has never been a point yet that I have needed to question the organisation of the programme from CGI's end. The induction was great in getting you ready for the programme. However, the Winchester University side of it is not that well structured and could do with listening to the feedback of the students, but this is not the fault of CGI.

The support from CGI is most of the time very good. My mentor has provided me with almost instant help whenever I need it with my work and has set up weekly calls to check how I am doing. This has made me feel very supported throughout the programme. The student recruitment team are also on hand whenever there is a question which needs answering. My manager has not been that supportive but that is because he does not particularly understand the programme so is not particularly able to help. It would be good if there was a brief training pack of Degree Apprentice managers.

The support from Winchester University has not been great so far in the 2 years I have been there. Around half the of the lecturers I have had so far have been awful in teaching the content to the point where I cannot understand it. Even when complaints are made the lecturers are either kept or changed far too late into the programme. These lecturers seem to be replacements from other Universities who do not really understand the programme and are used to just teaching "normal" courses. Complaints are often left unanswered or responses are given which seem to just avoid the problem. The feedback on the assignments can often be as little as one sentence even though the marks given can be quite low. If these low marks are given it would be useful to understand how I can improve.

Due to the poor quality teaching and confusing structure, there has not been much from the course that I can apply to the workplace. Nearly all of what I have learnt has been taught on the job. My role is what helps me perform better in the degree as I can use what I have learnt from there.

This side of CGI is very well run. There is a sports and social club which provides many heavily subsidised events which are often of popular activities. I take part in most of these which have been very enjoyable. There are also a lot of opportunities to take part in CSR events at schools or in local communities which have been very helpful. Within the project, events are also organised. This is definitely better than any other company I have seen.

Yes

Although the University side of the course has been disappointing, overall I have enjoyed myself and learnt a lot more than if I had just gone to University. I feel that CGI do help in providing you with the skills to further your career and I enjoy working here. The sports and social club has meant I have taken part in many varied activities than I would have ever done before.

Be prepared to manage your time effectively. There is a lot of work to get done by the end of each semester but it can easily be done if you hit the deadlines throughout the semester. Within CGI if you can show you are able to integrate well into a team, then you will get far. This is often more important than the specific I.T. knowledge as this can be learnt.