Digital Architecture Apprentice (Level 6) Review

My daily tasks so far (having only been in the team for a couple of months now) can include: - Updating cloud infrastructure diagrams to align closely with systems teams - Running weekly collaboration sessions between technical and solution architects - Joining daily calls for various projects that are adopting cloud infrastructures - Researching and studying new cloud services - Joining training sessions from cloud providers - Actioning recommendations from security assessment reports - Aligning with development teams to ensure architecture collaboration

I have learnt unbelievable amounts in a short space of time. The support and encouragement I receive from my team around upskilling and independent studying is great, as well as being sent on numerous training courses for a range of topics. I also use my weekly study day for module-specific learning, which compliments my every day role really well, giving me a broader understand of systems development and digital solutions.

I thoroughly enjoy my program, and would encourage anyone to join this scheme. The balance between studying and working is great, and it's invaluable to get so much experience in such professional teams with so much expertise and experience to share, whereas typically these kind of roles would require years of relevant work experience to join.

I think the program is very well organised from a Vodafone point of view. We are allocated 20% of our work week to studying (most people take this as one full study day a week), and since the COVID lockdown we also have 3 hour workshop with our tutors within this time, which are great as we are taken through the module content and can ask questions/work in groups to improve our understanding, and we are given guidance on assignments etc.

We have regular touch-points with our apprentice organiser/POC for if we ever need support, who is great at reaching out to our managers to remind them of our apprenticeship requirements when needed, and we are also allocated a mentor within Vodafone to go to with work or personal concerns.

The support we get is great, you can always reach out to your tutor if you have concerns (especially now with our weekly workshop sessions), and the guidance we get around assignments is also really helpful, with additional workshop available when nearing deadlines, and we also have a regular (usually monthly) call with our skills coach, who we can voice any concerns to and get support.

I think my qualification gives me a broader understanding of digital and technology solutions, which are often applicable to my workplace - often even where I think something won't be relevant, I'll be in conversation in meetings and suddenly hear a term that I wouldn't have otherwise understood. I think the modules are well chosen to suit a range of roles, so obviously not everything will be completely relevant to my role specifically, it's really beneficial knowledge to have anyway.

We haven't had any formal social activities/events for apprentices, however the way in which we are inducted to the company as a group, we have all become close friends, and regularly meet up for lunch, or out of work for social events. It would be great to have these formally in place through work moving forwards though.

Yes

I think it's a great company for supporting apprentices, and the scheme in general is so well organised/paid/supported compared to other apprenticeship schemes I know of. You are treated as a usual member of staff within your team, and given complete trust within your role. You often wouldn't know an apprentice was even an apprentice if you met one within other teams.

Definitely consider this apprenticeship if you want a career in tech. There are so many great opportunities available, and working within such a big company is invaluable at an apprentice level. It's a great balance between studying and work, and the company values of Vodafone in general are amazing - everyone is so nice to work with, and the overall work culture is great.