Software Developer Review

My role involves developing software for a client. I have a daily stand-up call every day, and then mostly solo development - other than reaching out to fellow devs for help. My role has changed drastically from project to project, however, and has been very boring and lonely in the past.

Yes, my software development skills have improved. It's worth noting, however, that this has all had to be self-study as there are very few training courses offered outside of the Uni (which is poor). It's supposed to be easy to request training courses but is actually a real headache.

The programme has been mangaged very poorly, especially post-covid. While my current day-to-day is fun, that's purely because I got lucky in finding a good project -- but this is very rare. Many other apprentices have been 6 months+ without managing to get on a project, so are basically wasting their time.

The programme has been very badly organized. Details about it have changed largely throughout the course, and in many cases, if our apprentice group doesn't make a huge pushback against management's choices then we get treated very badly. For example, they have tried changing salaries and levels mid-course!

It's a real headache to get any support from management. I haven't heard any positives from other apprentices either, so I can't begin to understand where the positive reviews are coming from. It takes a huge amount of effort to get support with Uni from management, for example, when we have a lot on in the course.

When joining the company, I was told that we would be given lots of support for external qualifications. What this actually means, however, is that they will happily support you with low-tier AWS and GCP certs and then deny most other suggestions.

The University course has felt pointless and outdated. We have learnt HTML/CSS (very badly, with loads of mistakes in the slides) which was useful, and some useful SDLC stuff, but also so much useless fluff such as really really basic maths and useless niche software that is probably sponsoring the Uni to use. The only thing that the Uni is good for is giving us the degree which is a min requirement for other roles.

Yes, there are some clubs and activities such as sports societies.

No

I would not reccommend the Accenture apprenticeship programme to a friend. The support is bad, and some people spend months upon end without being assigned to a project, and even if you are on one, it's a complete gamble whether it'll be great or really bad (and you are pushed to take whatever you can get). I also wouldn't recommend the company itself due to its comparitively very low salaries in the tech sector.

Show that you're involved in extra-curricular software stuff! Also, read between the lines of other reviews. For every good experience here there are others stuck without roles for ages that you don't hear about.