ApplicationsConsultant Review

My current role within the company is a technical applications consultant on a local government project. Day to day I am involved with many tasks such as defect resolution, testing, releasing, liaising with the client. I work from 9 till half 5 in our Manchester office, working from home on a friday.

Yes. I have learnt lots of skills. This has been through my degree with Aston uni, where I have learnt many programming languages, and also a number of business focused modules, eg economics, accounting. I have also learnt the most through the hands on experience I have gained through working on my project with more senior members of the team. I joined with no prior IT knowledge of the Oracle platform, however I am now a confident developer within the Oracle PaaS community in my company.

I enjoy the day to day working life that my apprenticeship offers. I enjoy the degree less than working due to the large work load and it having to be done primarily in my own time as 9-5 I am working on my project. However I do still enjoy the new knowledge I get with every module and the uni experience.

My degree apprenticeship programme is very well structured. We have a structured degree programme which is split into blocks for each of the years. We have a certain amount of allocated study time per year in addition to our annual leave. We also have a very well structured progression plan where our progress is measured every quarter and a guaranteed pay increase every year. We are assigned a buddy and reviewer when we start so there is a good support structure in place, and the GAP team are very well organised in terms of on-boarding and when organizing our on campus trips.

I receive copious amounts of support from my employer. The support system in place for apprentices is fantastic. We have a reviewer who monitors how we are progressing throughout the year and who helps us when applying for promotions etc. We also have a buddy/mentor that is usually ahead of us on the apprenticeship scheme. They are assigned to us as an informal guide, as someone who we can go to for advice or help as they have gone through the same experience as us. In addition to those two key supporters, the rest of the employees, in my experience, have been very welcoming and always willing to help me on the projects. They do not patronize apprentices, they are always willing to help us learn.

During the courses we receive alot of support from our tutors at aston uni. Each module has it own module teachers. They book out blocks from their working week to dedicate to helping us as we are distance learners. They provide means of contacting them, either via skype or email and are always willing to answer questions and provide support.

I think it helps me perform better as it gives me a better technical understanding of some of the key concepts of IT infrastructure. The business modules definitely help to provide context to the working environment. However the skills we gain and the knowledge we acquire through our university studies doesn't directly relate to the work I do on a day to day basis.

Yes! There are plenty to get involved in. There is social events happening all the time, whether that being on a local project level or whether that is a large apprentice/grad meetup. There is also plenty of sports teams going on, those are communicated to us via large email broadcasts. There are also lots of professional networking events that happen. I have attended a few of them and they have been a great way to interact with other people in the wider business community.

Yes

I would highly recommend Capegmini to a friend, they are a fantastic company to work for. They are passionate about their apprentices. They always ensure they are well looked after and that they are getting the best possible experience out of the apprenticeship program. The program is very well organised and ensures the apprentices have a good structure in place for them to progress well. Not only does Capgemini provide a great degree program, it also gives the apprentices vital experience within the IT industry.

Be yourself! Capgemini love people who aren't trying to be like everyone else. When applying, talk about things you are passionate about. Whether that be IT, people, business. Do your research. Know what Capgemini stands for as a company and what they deliver in terms of products/customers and what their key values are.