Software Engineer Review

My role in the early stage of my apprenticeship has been rotating around development teams to gain real world team experience, developing apprentice specific work for my training provider, partaking in onsite training with my training provider and performing supervised development in real-world live projects being developed by the company. In some stages of the apprenticeship, there has also been time to focus on self study and personal projects while not partaking in planned apprentice activities (particular around the Christmas period).

I have been introduced to many new skills while working on my apprenticeship. The skills I have learnt the most are team-based skills such as the Agile development process and internal communication. I have also been provided learning tools such as Pluralsight for self study. When I was developing my personal project, there was always the opportunity to ask for assistance from an experienced developer, and the response was never negative, in the sense that they didn't have time for me.

Since my apprenticeship involves partaking in my favorite hobby as a full time job, I am enjoying the program thoroughly. Although there is a lot of apprentice portfolio work that needs to be done as per demand of my training provider, which is not as enjoyable to complete, although I appreciate the fact that it is a part of the apprenticeship. The companies culture is very accommodating, a lot of effort has been made to make employees comfortable and happy in the workplace.

Throughout most of the apprenticeship so far, there has always been a plan to integrate me into the work environment. The only problems I have encountered is that the teams we have been assigned to have not always been prepared for our temporary assignment to them. In addition to this issue, some teams have been too busy in their schedules to properly accommodate apprentices because of project deadlines. While on 'downtime', I have always had a clear goal for personal development, although the other apprentices that joined at the same time as me didn't all feel the same way, and felt like they had little do to in the meantime.

It has been made very clear since the beginning of the apprenticeship that support is always available within the company. Since joining the apprenticeship, we have been given many options for personal support if required, such as an organised HR department, dedicated advisers and an apprentice 'buddy' from the previous year of apprentices. In general, it seems that there are many options for if I require personal support, and it seems like these options are always available.

This years apprentice intake in the company have been assigned a dedicated development skills coach from our training provide, who partakes in almost monthly reviews, either over a business app such as Skype, or in person. My development skills coach is very experienced, eager to help and is always reachable if I require his assistance.

The qualifications I am working towards are required in the workplace, as they prove competence with the programming languages and team development practices used throughout the workplace. The qualification that will prove the most useful to me will be the software development methodologies theory, as I have little experience developing in unison with other team members, despite being confident with the languages/frameworks required for a project. During my training, my instructor realized that I way already confident with the vast majority of content on the course, and allowed me to work on my own personal projects while the other apprentices were following the course, which I greatly appreciated.

I have been informed by the company that many extra-curricular activities exist in the company, mostly run by groups of employees. There are a range of activities available, such as sporting and travelling activities. Unfortunately, I have no interest in partaking in these activities, therefore I cannot comment on my experience with them. Aside from employee run activities, the company and individual teams still host occasional social activities.

Yes

If a particular friend is interested in starting a career in software development, gaining the relevant academic qualifications for a software development career, all in an inclusive and supporting environment, then I would highly recommend BAE Systems. The company has exceeded my expectations with the support provided to the apprentices, and the professional training we are receiving.

Be very proactive when joining the company. You will likely experience some technical issues when joining due to the complex IT systems and layers of security of company devices, but know that the help desk and technicians are there to help, and you should not be hesitant to contact them to help resolve technical issues. Also, try to come into BAE Systems with an idea of where you want to take your career, as they are very accommodating very skills and preferences in the areas they assign you. In contrast, if you have no clear idea on which path you want to follow as a software developer, BAE Systems will allow you to experience plenty of options.