Digital Degree Apprentice Review

Most of the apprenticeship is made up of just progressing through my uni degree. This is great because its something I'd be doing anyway even if I wasn't on the apprenticeship. Outside of this, I've spent time working within the company in summer and year placements. The company atmosphere is really great, it's a relaxed, fun and creative environment. The culture is very positive and everyone is very friendly. The work you do can be quite a mixed bag depending on what you are looking for. There's a limited selection of technical roles available for the placements so you could end up working in more soft-skill roles. This could be a positive for some people, but as a computer science undergrad, I found this quite disappointing.

I've learnt a lot of new skills on my comp-sci degree related to maths and programming. Team projects on my degree have also developed my teamwork and interpersonal skills. Student life has also taught me how to grow up a bit haha e.g. cooking, cleaning, time management etc. In the office, I have learnt new skills related to data analysis and Agile development and more generally: corporate culture and how the office functions.

I have really enjoyed my programme so far and expect to in the future. The company culture is really great, the team I worked with on my placement were very friendly. Near the end of my placement, I reached out to people working in different parts of the company to find out from them about what they do in their role. All of these people were helpful, friendly and very open to sharing what they do. In almost all areas the apprenticeship has exceeded my expectations however I would have liked there to be more technical roles available. Doing a computer science degree, my expectation was that the roles available would all be computer science related, this is not the case so you may end up with non-technical roles for the placements.

The programme is very well organised. It is structured where it needs to be and more dynamic in other areas. For example, you pick your roles early on before your placement but there is some room to switch to other roles during your placement if you want to find out more about other parts of the business. The programme manager is affable and fun and keeps us in the loop with what's going on at Vodafone with newsletters while we are at uni. We are kept up to date and well informed and there is very good support if you need help with something. Multiple induction days are run during the program which really helps to get to know the other degree apprentices. These often include fun activities such as an escape room and eating out.

We receive plenty of support for any issues we have. You feel confident that you can always reach out to your programme manager. Even if its a trivial issue they are always there to help and chances are 1 quick email will fix it. I have had no major issues that I've needed support with so I can't comment about what that's like but I have no reason not to think that it's superb.

We receive plenty of support for any issues we have. At uni there are lots of student support schemes whether its part of the school for computer science or the students union. The uni is very inclusive and very passionate about diversity. I have had no major issues that I've needed support with so I can't comment about what that's like but I have no reason not to think that it's superb.

From my degree the skills I have learnt are highly applicable to a computer science related role. We are taught a strong foundation of mathematics. They teach us Java, a high-level language and then later on in the degree we are also introduced to C, a systems programming languages and Haskell, a functional programming language. How applicable this is to your role completely depends on what role you get. None of this would be applicable if you get a soft-skills, non-technical role.

Heaps! There is a work social media platform that lets you connect to loads of groups of people that you have similar interests with. For example: table football competitions, video games, photography, exercise. At the Newbury headquarters, there is a football team that practices and plays games after work. The Newbury headquarters also has a gym, salon and GP which are very useful. The London office has the benefits of all the nearby amenities that London provides.

Yes

Great company culture and a relaxed, fun atmosphere similar to what you see at many of the big tech companies. The company is run in an ethical manner. It's easy to connect with people with similar interests. Great wage, great pension contributions, great employee discounts especially on SIMs and phones: 80% and 40% off respectively. The offices are in good locations. If you go to the London office they pay a better wage to account for the higher prices.

Most compsci students do an internship year anyway so don't see it as a downside. It's a huge stress off your shoulders not having to apply to hundreds of companies to get one. While some of my compsci friends were panicking about this, it wasn't something I had to worry about. The money is really nice, put it in a lifetime ISA and by the end of your degree, you've also got another £4000 from the government :D