Digital and Technology Solutions Apprenticeship Review

My day-to-day role involves a lot of exposure to the software engineering and data analytics aspect of the business specifically in the mechanical engineering teams. I work on and provide solutions for engineering customers and have hands on experience with a number of new tools, coding languages and software.

I have learnt many skills in my one year on the apprenticeship course. Basic presentation, professionalism and communication skills have been developed as I engage in meetings and review sessions for my projects. I have also has exposure to the agile methodologies and how businesses incorporate agile into software development.

The programme is really insightful at times and looking back on my options before taking on this course I definitely can say I chose the best one. The blend of theory based learning and practical hands on training has really helped me develop over the past year, not just as a software developer but as a person too.

The course has a very good structure to it. I enjoy the fact that although you are getting a degree, the university aspect is only part time and hand on work is full-time. That is simply because I enjoy learning and developing through hands on practical work, although the university definitely helps in learning new concepts and incorporating them at work.

The support I receive is very good. Going into the course especially in your early months it can be very overwhelming taking the shift from college or sixth form to this packed schedule and straight into work but the employer understands this, your team understands this and everyone is there to support and help you.

The university or training provider also offer a lot of support in working towards the qualification. I have found that many of the questions posed to the university about the course or specific modules are answered fairly quickly and the tutors that the university provide for each student also help in guiding us through the apprenticeship.

The training that we do in our qualification and the modules are tailored towards are specific role. Essentially our employer has given the training provider specific requirements of things they would like us to learn and develop and that becomes apparent as you progress in the qualification and have a greater exposure to the business .

There are a few extra-curricular activities that the employer provides. Occasionally the team may meet up outside of work as sort of a networking event or even within the early careers department that look after apprentices, there are many apprentice meetups outside of work such as go karting, or bowling etc.

Yes

From a young age I have always had a fascination with how things work, cars and coding. A lot of this passion stems from a place of curiosity. In my first few months, I was astounded at how much work goes into little aspects of automotive production and the feeling of working on something that you then see in press releases, news articles and TV shows gives you an overwhelming sense of pride in your work.

I would definitely recommend getting extra-curricular experience. Start your own projects at home whatever they may be, develop skills outside of school or college and get them down on your CV. Make sure you can demonstrate that you have good time management as that is an essential skill needed for this course.