Technology Apprentice Review

As well as completing my apprenticeship, I work as a Scrum Master in my day-to-day role. This role involves facilitating meetings for my team that follow agile methodology, coordinating work planning sessions, and removing any blockers that prevent the team from completing tasks. Normally I host a morning call in which the team discuss what work they are taking on and tell me of anything that will prevent them from doing so. I will then work around these blockers and try to mitigate them.

I have been able to learn many new skills throughout my time in the apprenticeship. Through modules and courses, I have learned about security, operating systems, programming languages, and networking. In my daily role, I have learned about agile methodology, facilitation, and cloud computing (working in a cloud team). I have also continued to develop my soft skills, such as organisation and leadership.

My apprentice programme has been a great opportunity. It has allowed me to work alongside experienced professionals and learn as much as I can from them, as well as attend in-depth courses where I am able to work on labs and ask any questions. The programme is structured so that I can attend the courses that are most relevant to me and future career.

The programme is well organised. There are modules to complete alongside your job role, and dedicated weeks in which you are out of office working solely on a course. This allows you to both focus completely on the courses and assigned work, to help with your learning, as well as progress through the apprenticeship whilst in your daily role. There are also regular catch-ups with your apprentice assessor to ensure you are coping well with the work load.

My employer has provided me with a lot of support. Both the team and domain that I was placed in have been great in helping me to progress my learning. I have been able to schedule meetings and ask questions when I need to. I do feel that I have not had much communication with the apprentice team since I started my role, which would have been helpful at specific points.

The training provider has given a lot of support in working towards my qualification. There are meetings every 5 weeks with my assessor to check on progress and allow me to ask any questions or make them aware of any changes in circumstance. There are also meetings every 10 weeks with my assessor and manager, which allows the apprentice provider and my employer to discuss next steps/ progress/ any issues.

My job role is unfortunately not a technical role, which means it has had limitations in allowing me to use my skills and qualifications I have gained through my training provider. Had my job role been technical, I would have been able to develop these skills further. I have been able to use the knowledge I have gained to help in my understanding of the technical tasks my team are undertaking.

Extra-curricular activities are still limited at my work place. There is a drive to get everyone into the office for a few days, so that teams can network in person again, as we primarily still work from home. I am not aware of many events that take place outside of teams organising themselves.

Yes

I would recommend NatWest as I feel like there is a lot of room for growth after the apprenticeship finishes. My management has been great and listened to what I have wanted/needed. Everyone I have met has taken the time to be helpful and guide me as best they can.

I would recommend diving into the apprenticeship work quickly. There are set dates for courses which can fill up fast, so planning ahead and securing your place early means you can progress quicker and you don't have to wait around. Use any down-time you have wisely too, NatWest offers so much in terms of learning resources, so take advantage and learn as much as you can whilst you have time.