Software Engineer Review

I'm a software engineer so a lot of my job features coding and testing. My day to day role involves attending scrum meetings, reviewing code requirements, reviewing others work, developing code either by myself or via pair programming, and testing. As I'm a software engineer lead on my team I also offer guidance and training to other team members.

Constantly learning new skills as part of my job and the degree. I've been introduced to several different coding languages to broaden my technical skills, but the biggest improvement is my soft skills. There's a lot of support in place to help build confidence and leadership skills. Additional training courses are also offered and you're actively encouraged to participate and gain qualifications.

I've enjoyed working and studying at the same time. Although it's challenging, it's great to see how teaching pairs with real life experience. Capgemini's working culture is really good, the people I work with on my team are all a joy to work with and are really supportive. Capgemini has 7 core values and it's evident that they stick to them.

Induction was great, all apprentices go through a process called "ALE" (Advanced Learning Environment) where they spend 9 weeks on campus living in halls. This is to get everyone up to the same level of experience before entering the workplace regardless of technical background (everyone learns java and SQL, and if you do well in java you also learn Ruby and Python). Since Covid this has changed to being online, though I believe this year it'll go back to being on campus with restrictions lifting. You get an induction week before ALE to meet with people in the business and pick up your kit as well as doing some team building training. After ALE, the programme is less structured (this has improved in the last year though). All webinars are virtual and are placed on Thursdays in the work day (this is fairly recent, before webinars would be in the evening and would be on different days based on lecturer preference). Apprentices receive 22 days study leave to focus on university work, typically you can take these days whenever you like though I've heard some managers aren't as flexible (my team has always been supportive though). You get around 10 days a year where you receive on campus teaching, which is usually support around coursework and upcoming exams.

My managers have always been very understanding about my role as an apprentice and the time and pressure that's involved. They organise regular calls with all apprentices in my area to discuss any issues we might be facing and get them raised on behalf of us. New joiners now receive a "GAP Connect Buddy" (GAP referring to graduates, apprentices, placement students) who is a current apprentice who has been in the business longer and can help give guidance and advice.

Some lecturers are really supportive and enthusiastic when they present their content, others don't seem to recognise that as apprentices we work full time as well as study. There seems to be some miscommunication to these lecturers, which leads to issues such as tight deadlines which are impossible to meet within the timeframe met (one lecturer used to set work due a day after it was released, which is hard to meet with a full time job) and a lack of support to students who need to meet outside of 9-5 working hours. However, most lecturers were accommodating.

I definitely feel like the qualification has enhanced my working role and provided much needed knowledge and skills that I can use in my day to day working life. Business skills especially have been very useful, but technical skills that have been learnt throughout the degree can also bee applied to my role. Even if the coding language learnt for the degree isn't the language used in my day to day working, how I learnt that language and picked up that skill can be applied to any language I need for my role.

There's plenty to get involved with! Being based in Telford on the HMRC account, there are plenty of events and activities. These include a gaming channel, a book club, photography competitions, quizzes, virtual escape rooms, amongst other activities. You are also actively encouraged to volunteer and help out in schools and charity fundraisers such as bake sales. There is also a "Club" which anyone can join for a small fee which offers discounted theatre and cinema tickets and hosts events such as virtual bingo. Telford also has a gym in the office which runs classes, there is a membership fee but it's much cheaper than normal gyms.

Yes

Every day offers something different to get involved with and the culture is great. Everyone in my team employed by Capgemini who I've encountered personally is super friendly and supportive, and there's a real effort from the company to see everyone as individuals. The work is diverse and there's plenty of opportunities to get involved with fun activities.

Do plenty of research on the company before you apply and learn about their values and clients. Capgemini likes to hire like-minded individuals so if you find yourself aligning with their 7 values you're probably a great fit and just need to bring out aspects of yourself that fit these values in your interview. There's a digital interview which I personally find quite tricky, so try and do plenty of practice ones before attempting the real one (I think Capgemini might have a practice one on their website). If you don't have any technical experience already, try and think of ways to prove your passion in IT. This can be a mini project you get involved with in your own time or teaching yourself a programming language such as Python (there's plenty of really good resources online to help you with this). If possible, try and attend open evenings and events Capgemini host to get a flavour of what the apprenticeships they offer are actually like.