Software Engineering Apprentice Review

In my job I work on the development and delivery of web based applications to high street banks and other financial services clients. Most of my day to day is picking up changes or features that need to be added to the existing platform of applications. I work closely with lots of other teams such as Business Analysts, Data Analysts and Testers

During my time at KPMG I have learnt a lot, I have massively developed my programming skills and have learnt to use and create applications using a wide range of technologies. I have been able to diversify my talents into application infrastructure as well as code, and have picked up enough knowledge to deliver entire applications from end to end. Aside from technical skills I have also learnt a lot around time and stakeholder management, as well as other soft skills.

Overall I do enjoy the programme I am on, however there have been times where certain elements of my work have been tough, specifically around trying to attebnd University for 2 days a week, and get all the courseworks and assessments assigned to me finished on time, without my work suffering, and still having a good work-life balance. I definitely feel I enjoy my time at work much more than I enjoy my time at University

The strucutre of the programme is fine, as I am part of the very first cohort to go through this programme with KPMG, there were some teething issues at the start, and the way in which KPMG communicates internally between the team responsible for our learning (PQA) and the team we work in is sometimes very lacking.

Since the very beginning I have received large amounts of support in building up my skills and learning new things. I was allowed almost straight away to put the skills I already knew into practice, allowing me to build on them even further, and become a valued member of the team very quickly.

Overall I feel that the programme at Queen Mary is lacking. There is little to no allowances made towards Degree Apprentices when compared to full time students, despite the fact that we are being asked to do only 1 less module per semester than them, but only have 20% of the time at Uni that they do. The individual modules we take are good, and well organised, but the course as a whole could be better geared towards degree apprentices who do not have as much time.

I do not feel that my qualification has massively impacted my ability to perform my role, however I do not think this is the university's fault. When I joined the pgoram I was in a situation where I already had a lot of the relevant skills to at least a baic standard, and as such it did not take long for me to fulfil my role. As I have progressed in my role I have learnt more and more complex and technical skills. This means that I have often been learning things well in advance before they are taught at university. As such, when I have come to take certain modules, I often already have a lot of the key knowledge, and the modules are frequently very easy for me.

There are plenty of activities and social events that happen at KPMG, however I have not personally often been involved with any of them, simply due to how long my commute to and from work is, if I hung around after work and got involved, I would be commuting home very late and would often not return until after midnight.

Yes

Overall the programme is great, as long as you are the right sort of person. It is a great opportunity to learn new skills, meet new people and do work that you really enjoy, there is plenty of scope to move around and try different things to find some thing you really like and are good at.

If you enjoy software development, are willing to learn and put a lot of work in during off work hours for university, then you can do very well in this program and this role. I do however think it would be too easy to become complacent, and you may struggle. The most important thing you can do is to get a good balance between university, work and your personal life.