Software Engineering New Associate Review

I project manage a team to deliver cloud capabilities to our clients & customers. I am a project manager and some of my daily tasks involve liaising with client stakeholders, conflict management and delegating tasks. I also look at resourcing on my project to ensure we are able to manage the incoming work and have enough people for the demand required. I track these numbers on a spreadsheet and pull the necessary actions from these reports.

Yes, I have learned to communicate with people more experienced and a lot older than I am. I'm working towards completing my degree and I think that's amazing. At work, I have developed confidence in my ability to lead a team. I have also sharpened my Project Management skills as I have completed a qualification in Agile Development. I've sharpened my networking and social skills, and I have been able to make new connections with people at work.

I enjoy the programme a lot, I have made many friends at Accenture and I like the flexibility of choice here in regards to my career. There's many areas & technologies in Accenture that I am able to work in and I like the freedom to carve my own place at Accenture. I think the programme has exceeded my expectations, I came to Accenture looking to just a get a degree and work, and I've now developed as a person and come out a more experienced, valuable, and skilled person.

I think the programme is very structured. Accenture maintains a good relationship with the our training provider and resolves any issues we have about our training very quickly and professionally. All the apprentices are assigned a buddy who is usually an older apprentice who can guide them, and also we get career counsellors who are senior members of the company who assist us in our performance achievement period in our company, where we discuss how we are doing at university and work.

I received a lot of support from my employer, including the Apprenticeship team and the recruitment team who are also involved in our experience as apprentices. I know who to reach out for and for what and I have always been communicated with respectfully and swiftly regarding issues. The best thing about the Accenture Apprenticeship team is that they are passionate about the programme, and helping young people succeed and that allows them to offer a level of care that is difficult to achieve otherwise.

Our training provider has provided us with a good level of support. We are able to reach out for updates from our lecturers and they are easy to reach out too. When there are issues, they are good to let us know ahead of time. Before Covid-19, I would often see the head lecturer with our Apprenticeship Sponsor at Accenture so it is good to see them communicating with each other. I enjoy university.

We study a wide range of topics at university, such as project management, business organisation, professional skills, software development and cybersecurity. These topics allow us to have a wide spectrum of understanding about the world of tech. The benefits are, we are able to be technology conversant, there is a module that will apply to every role you do e.g. the project management and business organisation modules are very useful for my role as a project manager and resourcing analyst.

Extra-curricular activities are one of the main things at Accenture. Many opportunities to volunteer at schools and give your time mentoring young people, speaking at recruitment events, we also have communities such as the LGBT+ and African and Caribbean Network and they organise workshops to pick up skills and also social events. We also have something called the side of the desk, we can volunteer our time to another project and support them for 1 or 2 hours a day. These activities are encouraged.

Yes

I believe Accenture is a good company to work at, there are good routes for progression, the people who work here are kind and good to work with, there's lot's to get involved in. It's a place where you will be pushed and challenged to work harder but it's very rewarding once you go through the process. Accenture Technology UKI is also diverse and it's nice to see so many familiar faces.

Make sure your CV mentions the skills you picked up in the experience sections, not just what you did i.e. teamwork, communication, determination. Be friendly, a smile can go along way in an interview. Be confident and initiate the handshake first, shows that you are prepared and ready. Gives a good impression to the employer. Your employer will have a copy of your CV in front of them in an interview, be prepared to answer questions about the skills you developed and how. Be passionate about technology, know the latest trends, make sure you have done research about coding or software engineering and can have a conversation about it.