Rating
- 1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
- 2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
- 3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
- 4. How well organised/structured is your programme?
- 5. How much support do you receive from your employer?
- 6. How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
- 7. How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
- 8. Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
- 9a. Would you recommend Softcat to a friend?
- 9b. Why?
- 10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Softcat?
In general, my role is to organise the consultants and their time. We do this by having access to their calendars and other systems, and with these we'll give them out to Account Managers in sales, or Project Managers so that they can figure out when is best to book in a consultant.
A skill I've definitely developed is my ability to Network, within the role you'll be doing so much communicating with other people and other departments that this skill will develop whether you like it or not. And a new skill that I learnt was being more independent, despite being on a team, I still had plenty of responsibilities outside our shared inbox.
The job role itself is great, there is constantly new opportunities to challenge yourself and learn something new, while getting rewarded and praised by everyone around you. The Apprentice scheme itself is good too, it feels a little bit like you're at school again, but with more 1-2-1 support.
The programme is pretty well organised and structured, mainly because the people who are organising it do a good job of communicating the progression you'll be making, all the apps you'll be using, and the general timeline of how the apprentice will look. But sometimes, due to high volume of work from the job role, it's hard to stay on top of the Apprentice work.
I receive a lot of support from my employer Softcat, to not fall too far behind on work they allow my to have dedicated Apprentice time every week, and the entire Apprentice cohort is encouraged to reach out to each other so that they can help each with the work.
They offer very good support, as they understand that some job roles can have a large workload compared to others, and if this is the case they are happy to give out extensions to complete the work. As well as this, the FUSE work they hand out is great for revision notes.
It helps me perform better in my role by understanding the larger context behind an organisation, such as policies and procedures, laws and regulations, and when it comes down to job performance, they offer tools and ways of organising your progress within the role so that you always know how well you're performing.
There is plenty of extra curricular activities that run at Softcat, they have their own dedicated hobbies page which includes more than 15 different hobby groups people can sign up for. The only problem is if you live further away from work, this will mean that its harder to do the one's after work.
Yes
Because it offers a great first step into an entry level job, or a slightly more qualified one. The support you receive from your colleagues and higher ups is unmatched, and they actively promote looking into other departments if you feel the job role doesn't suit you. There's also a ton of cool free stuff they give out ;)
Softcat is all about putting the people first, so if you show them you are willing to work well in a team and support others along your Softcat journey, as well as be very socialable and network, then you will stand out to them as a candidate because you understand their culture.
Details
Level 3 Apprenticeship
Business Operations
Marlow, Buckinghamshire
April 2022