Software Engineer Review

As we work on rotations through different departments and teams, our role and responsibilities can change. Currently, I am working in a web development team; requiring me to develop systems in an agile team during sprints, meet with product owners and assess needs, and work with designers and testers to develop solutions.

I have had the opportunity to develop my knowledge of systems and coding languages during my employment, such as JIRA, Jenkins, Git, JavaScript, TypeScript, and Angular. I have had the opportunity to develop my interpersonal skills both within my placements and as part of the apprenticeship-wide offerings, which have benefitted me greatly. I have also had the chance to attend internal intensive courses on web development and SQL.

I enjoy the work I get to do within Santander, and the working environment is certainly a welcoming and positive one. On the occasion that I have run into issues with my programme, the Emerging Talent team within the company have been quick to support me. The university side of the programme is however largely bloated and padded out, with 5 lectures' worth of content being spread out over 10 weeks.

We are aware that the programme is still in its infancy, and compared to a number of other programmes I have seen, this is rather well organised. However, issues have arisen regarding sorting placements for apprentices, organising apprentice pay (which it turns out was never actually defined), and finding competent apprentice managers. The induction to the company is largely focused on the soft skills and 'behaviours' the company market - and lacks any proper introduction to the core systems and working methods of the company (something which is left to your first team to teach you, which is not always guaranteed). Study time is well organised, with each Friday being allocated to university work, or extra curricular learning when not in term time.

The support structure is very well defined and responsive. Not only do we have multiple contacts within the Emerging Talent team to speak with regarding any issues, but we are each assigned an Apprentice Manager separate from our Line Manager, whose job is to support us both in terms of queries and personal/professional development.

BPP provide a Student Support Officer as a point of contact for students requiring any information or raising any issues. The response time from this support channel is usually long, and is not always as helpful as it could be. This is in part due to the convoluted and ill organised nature of the university, and has caused a number of issues in the past.

The information and skills provided during our lectures are usually relevant to our work within our job roles, both in terms of hard skills such as coding or business planning and regarding soft skills such as personal development tracking. A number of our modules relate directly to some of the work we complete, such as python development. Our assessment tasks are sometimes related to the banking sector, which is useful in demonstrating the relevancy of what we have learned.

I have been made aware of a few activities such as football teams, however I am unaware of many networking groups or social groups. A number of charity groups exist within the organisation, supporting the community - and there are often charity days run to support these causes which are advertised well within the company.

Yes

Santander provides one of the most streamlined apprenticeships I have seen. The support you are provided within the company and the opportunities that are created specifically for apprentices are second to none, allowing us to do great things - such as work on large-scale projects, visit a variety of locations, and meet key individuals inside the company.

Ensure you know what your pay is going to be before you join the scheme - there has been a lot of confusion regarding this issue. Know what you want to do - if you have an idea of the areas of the business you'd want to gain experience in, mention them!! Show passion - it's way more important than technical knowledge!