Apprentice Cloud Infrastructure Architect Review

My role as an Apprentice Cloud Infrastructure Architect is to provide architectural solutions, technical guidance and impact assessments of business requirements for Vodafone’s cloud platforms.

I have learnt an indescribable amount since starting my apprenticeship - I began in 2019 having no technical experience at all (and hadn't even studied IT since I was 14), and I am now 10 times certified in a range of cloud and technical areas, and have a consistent grade average in my degree of a 1st.

I absolutely love the programme offered by Vodafone - I feel the opportunities we are given within our roles is amazing, and enables us to land and succeed in roles that would otherwise be impossible to adopt/gain experience in without many years of experience.

The programme offered by Vodafone is very structured and well supported by the apprenticeship programme leads. However, Vodafone can be limited by how well the content/delivery of the degree learning is managed by the apprenticeship training provider (QA).

I receive a huge amount of support from Vodafone, including regular 1-2-1s with my manager, mentoring from professionals throughout the business, and support from the apprenticeship programme lead.

I have regular progress reviews with my skills coach within QA, however we are frequently moved between skills coaches, which means they often do not have much context of who we are and the progress we're making. From my experience, where I require additional support or have questions around my learning, response and turnaround times can be incredibly slow, and ultimately unhelpful in their response.

Modules from my training provider help to develop my wider understanding of the tech world, and are therefore very helpful. We can also tailor some of our modules around our specific interests or roles. However, the quality of content delivery distracts from this, and often means a lot of independant study is required.

There is a youth committee within Vodafone that organises regular social and professional development events, which helps to build a youth community within Vodafone for both Graduates and Apprentices. Vodafone also offers social events and regular themed weeks/events around important topics e.g. women in tech or pride weeks.

Yes

In my experience, Vodafone is an amazing place to work, both in terms of the community of people you work with (and the opportunities you are exposed to), but also in terms of benefits and how well employees are looked after. Especially as a young adult in Vodafone, I feel the support network and sense of community is great.

To really be yourself and let your interests shine throughout the interview process. Being able to demonstrate passion goes a long way, and being able to talk about your goals for growth and learning. Also learn about the Vodafone Spirit behaviours to help show how you would fit in with the Vodafone ways of working.