Trainee SME Review

I'm a trainee Subject Matter Expert within the Data Integration Services team. We provide a number of services to the group in the area of data migration, profiling and archiving. My job (when qualified) is to be a technical lead for the platform, assuring adherence to the groups procedures and governance, co-ordinating technical project design and build work with our partners (onshore and offshore), contractors and LBG colleagues and liaising with other platforms within LBG. To develop me to the point that I am able to carry out that role my day to day activities are centred around getting a good working knowledge of both the numerous technical software systems our platform uses and the project lifecycle.

I have learnt and developed many skills on this program. I work in a very technical area so I have learnt numerous technical skills on the job such as Datastage, COBOL programming, unix scripting, UML as well as the computer science element of my apprenticeship training. The training I have received has been a mixture of internal training provided by experts within LBG and external training from training companies. Also, as the job involves liaising with many different people at various levels, within and without the company, I have been able to develop my soft skills such as communication and presenting.

I very much enjoy the programme! It sounds like a cliché but I honestly feel like every day brings new and different challenges. The team I work with are fantastic and are more than happy to help with any questions or problems I have and seem to enjoy showing me what they do. It's definitely exceeded my expectations.

I feel very valued by LBG. I've been to numerous apprenticeship events since I started and have been lucky enough to meet and talk to some very senior people within the company. They all consistently talk about how the apprenticeship programme is a big part of the future for LBG and how much value they place in it. Within my team I've been asked to present on several occasions at team meetings about the apprenticeship and my experiences since joining. From a work perspective, I've only been working here for four months and already I'm involved in some of the design and build work for our team’s biggest project of the year.

The apprenticeship programme is very well organised. Possibly the only thing that I could criticise would be that the first week was quite difficult. Basically all laptops have to be fully locked down when not assigned and can't be assigned until your start date and then that take a few days to get everything unlocked and set up. Since then though everything has been fantastic. I have daily booked meeting with my mentor to discuss my progress, but I'm free to approach him at any time if I need to. I have assigned time for study and my apprenticeship work and the team are very supportive with it. The work I'm assigned from my team is always focussed on work that can give me the maximum benefit from a learning perspective rather than work which will benefit the team more.

The support from Learn Direct has been fantastic. The programme is very well structured, every week we have reading, videos to watch, a quiz, a video conferencing tutorial with the tutors then another quiz to test our learning’s. The support is great, mostly we communicate with the tutors and each other through a social platform that Learn Direct have set up for the apprentices or ask questions in the video tutorials. For anything more urgent they are quickly available through email or over the phone.

The support I've received through LBG has been great. There are three formal layers of support: my mentor, the Chief SME (head of the technical side of the platform) and my line manager. Generally I deal with my mentor on a day to day level but I have regular meetings with the Chief SME. The line manager system is very helpful. They are a manager from HR that is there to help you with your career development and any issues you may be having and to help you work as effectively as you can. I have monthly meetings with my line manager, but again I can contact them by phone or email at any point.

The salary for this apprenticeship scheme is phenomenal! My situation is different to most other apprentices as I'm a bit older but I own my own home and can comfortably pay my mortgage and all my bills on my own salary with plenty left over. For someone who is living at home who won't have those overheads (which is most of the other apprentices) it will obviously more than cover all their costs.

LBG places a lot of emphasis on activities outside of work. There are so many opportunities it would be impossible to list them all. LBG is committed to community work. Everyone has a Day to Make A Difference, which is a paid day to volunteer in a charity or community project in the area. As for fundraising everyone is encouraged to raise money for our charity of the year (Children in Need this year). A group from our team are planning to climb Ben Nevis in order to raise money for Children in Need. Group IT are holding a "Sports Tour of Britain" for fundraising with many different events occurring. Every site has a leadership coalition, which is a committee of LBG colleagues who's remit is to make things better for colleagues at that site by putting on events, suggesting improvements etc. There are also numerous groups you can get involved in to help support various colleagues ie disabled, over 50s, LBGT, women and many more.

Yes

This apprenticeship gives you the opportunity to join a massive company on a great salary without the need for any qualifications or relevant experience. You'll get comprehensive training, earn a recognised qualification (two on the IT scheme) and have a guaranteed job at the end of it.

Do your research An apprenticeship is a fantastic opportunity, the company will be making a big investment in you so its important that you look into the company and find out what it does. Why do you want to work for the company? What are the company’s values? What is its mission statement? What are the issues that it faces? What changes are happening in the industry? Then demonstrate your knowledge in the interview, discuss what you know about the company and ask pertinent questions. Assess your skills The interviewers are going to be looking for what skills you can bring to the table so its important to think about examples before the interview. As a potential apprentice you may have little to no work experience but the interviewers will be looking for examples of how you've handled situations that are common to the workplace, but also everyday life, such as working to deadlines, handling conflict, working as a team. Cherry pick examples that showcase these, if possible more than one. If you feel well prepared for your interview you will feel more confident. Be yourself, enjoy it and learn from it It's natural to be nervous by try not to worry too much. The worst thing that can happen is that you don't get the job, it's not life or death! Even if you don't get the job, you are now massively more prepared for any future interviews you may have. Think about what areas you could have improved on, how could you have been better prepared? A good interview should be more like a natural conversation than an interrogation. If you have prepared you should have nothing to worry about. If there is any kind of group exercise remember that it's important to talk and get your points across but it's also important to listen. They will be looking for people who can work in a team not for people trying to impose their will. If you get the job it's important to take ownership of your learning. Hopefully there should be a good structure in place for your development but ask questions, try to get involved, volunteer, take any opportunities you are offered.