Apprentice Software Developer Review

On a typical day I could be writing small code changes, testing new features, attending courses, writing up projects, developing tools and utilities, sitting exams, setting up servers, organizing equipment, attending IBM events. Day to day life at IBM varies massively due to the scale of the company but my experience at least has been mostly positive.

I have been on lot's of courses for skills not strictly related to software development (i.e. speaking to clients) which whilst not what I am interested in has been useful sometimes. My general technical skills have greatly improved as a result of my day to day work but software development skill set has not improved as much as I would have liked: I have been pretty disappointed by the courses provided by Firebrand, especially the Java course, as they offered little value over independent study. This may have been because they were remotely delivered though.

IBM is a very large company but I have found that at the Hursley site there is an active and friendly community of apprentices and early professionals, (Pre covid) I found being at work to be pretty fun as a result. There are lots of different activities and groups at the Hursley site that make the work day more interesting. I have found both the teams I have worked in at IBM thus far to be very friendly and eager to teach where possible

My program was very poorly organized: although some improvements have now been made I was placed in a role where I could not realistically meet the requirements for my apprenticeship. The BCS Apprenticeship standards are very inflexible and it makes it very difficult for anyone outside of a very standard role to complete their apprenticeships. The pandemic has effectively derailed many apprenticeships, with people taking long periods of time out of work and some people losing their role because departments have been shut down (these people will be reassigned to new roles, rather than being let go, in theory). I do know of other people within the company who have had very organized apprenticeships so don't let this scare you off.

I receive a good level of support from my team and my employer has pretty good support services available for mental health. I have not felt supported in disagreements with the training provider however, with it feeling that Firebrand is greatly influencing IBM's technical apprenticeships in a negative way.

Firebrand provide courses which generally speaking do not equip you with the skills necessary to pass the exam after the course. Even with independent study some exams are extremely difficult to pass (some exams sat by apprentices at Firebrand are designed for developers with several years experience). Whilst Firebrand have since made changes (now offering exams more appropriate for a Level 4 qualification) it is clear that apprenticeships provided by Firebrand are a box ticking exercise first and a learning opportunity second: with little thought put in to what will actually be useful to an apprentice in the workplace.

I have yet to see any benefits from my qualification in my role. Although this may be because my role is not a typical software development role I believe it is mostly because the qualification itself contains very little relevant content .

IBM has very many extra-curricular activities available. The community is friendly and there is something for everyone.

No

My apprenticeship has at times been very disorganized and I do not feel overall like this qualification has made me any more employable. IBM also recently cut 10,000 staff in the UK which didn't affect me but did negatively impact several of my friends and colleagues. Whilst I am sure many IBMers have had a more positive experience at IBM than I have (and there are many parts of my experience that have been positive) I cannot in good faith recommend IBM in the present climate as much as I would like to.

The application process is VERY long but if you pass the initial assessments and interviews you are then able to enter a broad range of departments across the company. The length of application is justified by this and it is worth applying.