IT Operations New Associate Review

I work on application maintenance which basically entails having a program or application and keeping it running; making sure its functioning as it should and fixing problems as they arise. My daily activities involve finding out how the application is running currently, how its been over the previous night and keeping on top of it throughout the day. As well as this i work with my team both within the office in Newcastle and further afield whether it is London, India, Latvia or anywhere else in the world we communicate between each other to help solve problems which come from users or ourselves.

Through my apprenticeship I have learnt a truckload of new skills in a variety of environments. The NVQ side of my apprenticeship has taught me personal and some technical skills but mainly things that help make my day to day activities a little bit easier. Thing such as learning effective ways of communication and planning are now essential within my role so that I don't get buried beneath work. But within my professional role I always seek more work because I enjoy it more than any school, job I have had before. Being challenged everyday in a new and different way is exciting and means I am exposed to so many different people that new experiences are always available.

I don't enjoy my program, I love my programme. It is something I have enjoyed since day one and want to continue as long as possible. The team who helped bring me into the programme have been helpful, prompt and exceptional at keeping me informed at every step of my induction. The work i do now within the apprenticeship is challenging although through the help of the many people I can reach out to I feel like I can honestly make a difference and learn new skills while doing it. The apprenticeship managed to excel my expectations entirely as previously i had always heard of apprenticeships as being a form of cheap labor but at Accenture i feel valued just like everyone else.

I believe I am valued within my role and as an apprentice within Accenture. I do not go out looking for recognition so I don't really know how to judge this question although I will say within this role I feel like I am a team member and not just an apprentice tagging along. The team treat me like one of their own and this gives me a feeling of value better than any amount of certificates and trophies. As such my involvement with task and projects increases as when you know you are given more as an individual you can put more back into the work.

The movement from initially being recruited, to my induction, to being placed on a role has been flawless. At every stage of the apprenticeship i have known exactly what has been going on and what to do. My study is done separately to my job role and this is communicated between my college, NVQ assessors, Apprenticeship team, My Role team and everyone knows what I need to do. I have regular meeting with my career counselor while also maintaining a relationship with my apprenticeship team and fellow apprentices. Overall i believe the way i have been moved around between the different stages of my work has been exceptional.

Whenever I have an issue I simply drop an e-mail to my tutor. Within minutes I generally receive a response and I know that I can always contact him to help with any issues that I may have, whenever i receive work he always gives me guidance to assist me along and again enforces this feeling of being valued.

As previously put in some of the other sections my team and manager give me tons of support. They get me doing work I never even dreamed of being able to do. Whenever you see people who sit looking at complicated sheets of data and logs you never think that you would ever be able to do the job that they are doing within 2 months of being there like I have enjoyed doing. The guidance of my team is only equaled by that of my Apprenticeship co-coordinator who helped direct me into my role and put me in a place i felt i could make a difference as I have.

At the moment my Salary package meets my costs well enough to be able to get by, the only reason i sometimes struggle is when i need to go travelling to see family but as that is an extra expense i would never mark the Apprenticeship scheme down for not being able to cover that as well. Overall i believe I am paid well enough to afford the essentials while also providing enough for social activities to an extent.

There are always opportunities outside of work! Not a day goes by when I don't get emails asking about volunteering opportunities, team building events, offers, training availability and travelling opportunities. There are loads of chances that are offered to me in my apprenticeship.

Yes

Accenture is an excellent place to work. The people and culture that you feel from simply being there day by day is that of being valued and accepted. Not a day goes by where I don't enjoy coming to work.

Be yourself and simply take things day by day. No matter how much preparation you do its unlikely you'll be ready on day one of getting into a role so just be yourself in wherever you work and reach out to the support that is offered because not all jobs out there offer the same level of care as Accenture/