Software Developer Review

I work with in a network design team that looks at the location of post offices and their workloads across the country. This also involves looking at census demographics information and customer sessions statistics within large database files. Secondary to this we also review locations for potential new post offices and requests from retailers as to their suitability.

Since completing the course i have become much better at utilzing database engines and writing queries that allow me to pull the information and data that i require more easily on a day to day basis. It has also taught me additional programming languages that have proven invaluable since joining the team

The course itself was split into two sections. a classroom component and a tutor component that would check in with you. The classroom component was very well run and extremely enjoyable, i learnt a lot during these sessions. The tutor portion was hit and miss, I was initially provided with a tutor that did not seem to care what i did and was not especially helpful. Once he left the experience did become better but was still not as enjoyable as the classroom sessions

The exact structure of the course still remains a bit of a mystery to me, it was not very clear from the outset what was required to complete the course and this did not change as the course progressed. The classroom sessions were however extremely well organized and well run.

I receive a good deal of support from my employer, particularly my line manager who allowed me to spend a little extra time on my portfolio in order for me to achieve the highest possible grade. I feel this would not have been possible were i not in the company i am with now.

Communication with my initial tutor was patchy at best, and completely non-existent at worst. Once he left and i was transferred over to another tutor it did get better but at this point i was at the end of the course and already on course to complete. My second tutor was very helpful with his comments but otherwise the support in general was poor.

Since taking the course i have been promoted into a more data centric position within Post Office and have utilized the sills i have learned on the course to great effect. Particularly with regards too working with very large datasets and writing queries that provide information required in a much better way.

There are, but i do not get involved in most of them due to my own personal circumstances (having just welcomed a baby into the world). There is also the small matter of Covid-19 having shut down any and all other possibilities of extra-curricular activities at this moment in time.

No

The organisation at the moment is in an extremely tough situation (as are most businesses) dealing with covid-19. In the past 6 months there have been numerous restructures with job losses included in all of these. I would not recommend anyone work for the business currently due to the uncertainty that they would be faced because of this situation.

Firstly, i would say make sure that you know the difference between who the Post Office are and who Royal Mail are. Although the two are inextricably linked they are very much different animals. Outside of this applying to the post office is incredibly simple with a strong onboarding process that has been put into place in the last few years that takes people through everything they need to know about the business.