Software Developer Review

Day-to-day I work as a software developer team lead. My responsibilities include the development and review of my own and others work as well as release management and environment maintenance and uplifts, I am also the SCRUM master. I am also responsible for the ongoing upskilling of the members of my team through both the technical and non-technical skills related to their roles.

Over the course of the apprenticeship my skills have developed significantly. I have been afforded the room to develop in my own way and have not felt limited to being an apprentice. I have a large amount of responsibility for both myself and others and so I have been able to develop not only the technical skills related to my role but also interpersonal ones which will facilitate future progression.

Whilst the day-to-day role within which I work is very satisfying and gives me a great deal of pride, the quality of the degree provided by Aston has been lacking fairly regularly. Whilst this is not something which would have stopped me doing this programme had I known it before starting it could be improved.

Unfortunately there has historically been a lack of structure in regards to internal apprentice management within the programme. The apprenticeship tends to rely on the team/manager who the apprentice reports to for structure and support but there is no training scheme to facilitate this. This has worked fine for me as I am very self-driven and happy to work things out myself but it could definitely have been an issue otherwise.

Through the coronavirus pandemic support from CGI has been exceptional, it has really shown how much they care about all their members not just the apprentices. My team have been very flexible when accommodating my studies although this can vary depending upon the team an apprentice is in. There is an informal apprenticeship support network which has seen help given to any apprentice wishing to increase their grades.

The quality of the tuition from Aston university has been lacking throughout the course of the training. Many of the lecturers do not appear to care about the students and are more interested in their own research and bids. If you want to attain well in the degree you must put in a lot of work yourself (or with the support from others) in order to teach yourself the material.

My qualification has provided me a high level overview with many aspects of the digital landscape. Whilst a large amount of it is not directly applicable to my daily tasks, having knowledge of what kind of technology is available has allowed me to make more informed decisions about what solution will best fit our clients.

CGI has a sports and social club which puts on many social activities which can be taken part in. The club is supplemented by CGI so that the costs for each member are lower. The activities range from sports activities to quizzes and escape rooms and even cocktail making courses (and everything in between).

Yes

CGI clearly cares about their members, they ensure that there is the flexibility for members to work around and life challenges that is going on. This has been particularly clear in the Covid pandemic where every effort has been made to ensure members have been safe and well. The members of CGI are all very nice and it feels like a great place to work.

If you are thinking of applying to CGI it is worth thinking whether or not you thrive in a more independent or supportive environment. CGI does cater to both but if you work better with more independence then the Aston apprenticeship would be better whereas if you prefer more support then the Winchester apprenticeship would suit you better. If you resonate with CGIs Dreams then make sure you can give examples in the interview stages.