Software Engineer Review

My role involves working within a team focusing on emerging technologies such as AI & Big Data Analysis, upskilling in these technologies to gain expertise and then creating models and prototypes to showcase the use of these technologies to clients and to leadership. Day-to-day I am usually working on prototypes where I am able to experiment with different ideas and gain feedback from my team and managers. The role itself changes each day as it is very fast-moving, one day may be focused on coding and development, and the next focused on research and use case development.

I've learned many new skills at my time in the company, mainly based around technologies as this is most relevant to my role and to the apprenticeship. The company is great with providing constant material and funding to provide upskilling and training. I have gained 2 qualifications at the moment and am currently preparing for a cloud certification to further my skills. I've also managed to develop my 'soft' skills such as leadership, time management, prioritisation etc. effectively as the roles I have been a part of have consistently required me to have and to develop these attributes.

I thoroughly enjoy the degree apprenticeship programme, the apprentice community is tight-knit and well formed. The work we recieve is great also, we are treated and considered as regular analysts in the company rather than "apprentices" so we recieve and do the same work as every other analyst. The workplace culture is excellent and welcoming and generally revolves around project teams which in my experience, have been very positive as each project is different and therefore each culture is different.

The programme itself is well structured, we are given sufficient time and support to stay on top of our University work and the company is very considerate to this fact also. Beginning the apprenticeship with an induction & formal training is always a great start as it allowed us to gain an understanding of the company, industry and type of work done. As a new apprentice, you'll be assigned a "buddy" upon joining, who will be in contact with you and will be able to guide you through any questions you may have or any initial problems you face. On top of this, we also have a careers councillor within the company, who is someone that is of a managerial-level and is there to guide us through our career journeys. Team hierarchies are dependant on the project you are assigned to work for, however in general, you would be expected to work at the same output as a regular analyst in the company and therefore are treated the same and not as any other apprentice.

Accenture gives a large amount of support to us as apprentices, they are very positive in supporting us and ensuring that we are all benefiting from the program and doing things we enjoy. There was recently an organisational change to allow for more focus to be put on the apprentices and allow us more opportunities. Our managers are generally very supportive when it comes to the day-to-day working life and for our longer prospective goals, we have careers councillors who are there to guide us and help us along this journey. The HR team are always very understanding and helpful towards any issues we may face during our time at work.

Our training provider gives us some support as we work towards obtaining our degree. Lecturers are usually always available to message or email if you have any messages pertaining to specific topics. They also ensure that we have sufficient time and capabilites to complete the work they have set us and are always open to reasonable disputes or changes that may need to be made. Generally they are very positive in their attitude towards supporting us and they try to ensure our time spent with them is worthwhile.

While there are of course some aspects of the degree that are helpful to understanding business issues, I have found that a large majority of the time, the theoretical topics do not translate to the real life equivalent in the business world. This is, understandably, more than likely due to each company and project team having very different styles of working and different organisational structures. However, the more practical focused modules and topics we have learned, such as application development etc. have translated very well into the working world and have been useful to learn as I feel it helps me to understand more about my job and industry, from a perspective outside of the company.

Accenture has many extra-curricular events to get involved in. There are almost always social events to attend, whether this be for your project, within the wider community or as an Accenture UK-wide event. There are many professional and networking events that occur in order to meet new people from around the company, as well as many educational/learning based events where a subject expert will lead a presentation or activity session based around their subject, allowing you to learn and understand more about different areas of the company. Accenture also promotes sporting events and teams, they have many internal sports teams such as the football team, basketball team, cricket club etc. and are proactively taking part in the corporate games each year. Finally, Accenture promotes being a volunteer to the wider society, and allows 3 paid days per year to volunteer freely. There are plenty of options of things to do here.

Yes

Accenture is an amazing company to be a part of. They are working everywhere, across all industries globally, so the options you have are vast. The opportunities within the company are excellent as they really try to focus on upskilling and training to have multiple experts within the company, and are happy to invest in you as an apprentice to develop professionally. The opportunity to move around projects if you wish is excellent, as it allows for a wide range of skills to be acquired across multiple different industries and role types, so there's a high chance you'll be doing something you enjoy. Accenture also promotes a lot of extra-curricular development and activity with constant events and learning opportunities going on. Finally, they are very supportive when it comes to the Apprenticeship scheme, us apprentices are treated as normal employees, just like any other analyst, but the company is sure to provide us with all the help, training and support we may need in order to obtain our degree and grow as young professionals in our career.

The main tips I would give for interviews and assessment days are to genuinely be yourself as that is who they company is truly interested in hiring. Try and be as confident as you can in your own skills and in the process, practice and prepare for it with family and friends and be sure to do research about the company and it's future aims, as well as research about use cases where Accenture has made an impact on the world/industries in the past. It is always great to have some kind of formal work experience on your CV, even if it is completely irrelevant to the job you are going for. I found that one of the most important things to have on your CV is relevant extra-curricular activities or learnings. For example, completing an online course in a topic you are passionate about, or learning a language from scratch etc. But of course, the main thing is to enjoy the experience, and take away any feedback you can to grow and learn from it.