DUX Apprentice Review

The role is fairly self-explanatory. As an apprentice I work in various areas of DUX to gain the necessary exposure to pass my degree. Exposure and work includes skills like prototyping, wireframing, user research, copyrighting mixed with soft skills such as presentation and working in a modern agile framework/setting

Yes learnt all sorts of news skills in the time that I have been employed. This includes interpersonal skills, as well as the skills needed for all the tasks listed above. Being given responsibility for my own work also allows to build confidence and other non-skill related attributes that are useful in the workplace.

For the most part the programme is enjoyable. Occasionally the workload can become overbeariing, but this is largely due to bureaucracy issues that exist in all large organisations, and nothing specifically wrong with the programme, whether in work or as part of the regular working sessions. A great experience overall!

The actual learning content of the apprenticeship is very much well organised/structured. There are occasional teething issues with using videoconferencing software etc. but nothing out of the ordinary. The learning is broken down into nice regular intervals with a familiar and consistent method of assessment that makes things super clear and easy for me as a student.

Support from within the organisation can be a bit hit-and-mis at times. Understandably people working in the bank are busy people, and not all of them have the time to fully support an apprentice, especially when the act of giving that support is so much more time consuming virtually than it otherwise would have been pre-pandemic.

The training provider is pretty consistent with their support, offering regular sessions both for academic support with the module leaders or with academic skills staff (things like referencing etc.) or with pastoral care with people that are aimed to help you out with any issues that you might be facing with your employer.

The qualification undoubtedly is useful for my day-to-day role. The learning is often based more in theory and helping to understand *why* I'm doing something in the role, where the learning that takes place in the workplace usually focusses on simply what to do and how to do it, the degree helps to understand why so that I can make better informed decisions

Part of a couple of employee-led-networks is probably the limit of extra-curricular stuff in the bank, plus the usual going out for drinks etc. when in the office. But with the return to office being so staggered and patchy still it can be difficult to try and get things organised properly/even more informally than would have been normal in the past when offices were more occupied.

Yes

Great benefits, if you're trying to do an apprenticeship you'll be hard-pressed to find a better salary on the market. The business as a whole is so large that you can be exposed to a wide range of different challenges etc that let you continually develop if you want to.

Don't worry about things you don't know. Finance is a pretty big, confusing, regulated sector and there's a million and one different skills needed from a load of people just to keep the boat moving - it's more important to just focus on what you can do and what you bring rather than anything else.