Software Engineer Review

You attend agile ceremonies which consist of meetings such as a sprint planning, backlog refinement, daily stand-ups etc. You attend the stand-up daily followed by code reviews when required and pick up tickets of work which you begin to develop code towards whether it's features or defects

I already had a broad understanding but one main thing is the amount of terminology that you begin to learn about software and from a team point of view such as the agile framework. Additionally, from technical point of view, React, Java and SpringBoot followed by more JavaScript and I would definitely say I have learnt a LOT of these and just general skills like becoming a lot more comfortable with my command line and following specific workflows etc

I enjoy it a lot as it is something I was interested in regardless beforehand and from the business itself as well as the apprenticeship provider, I have felt welcomed and comfortable which allowed me a platform to "shine" with abilities and confidence in myself because of this. It is definitely something different having had just finished sixth form and I would recommend as a next step although is a big one in comparison in terms of professionalism. One thing is though, if you like to be proactive like myself, the start can drag a little but once that's over you can get your hands dirty when everything is set up and they feel you're ready

For myself, I would say the start of the programme I am on is fine in terms of structure but one thing I would say is, switching between mark-up languages to stylesheets to a programming language after doing Python and OOP back-end languages like Java and C#. It can be quite challenging for some people as it is very fast paced and these languages are so much different but the structure is good just possibly needs tweaking and slowly built up e.g. starting with HTML, CSS, JS and it's frameworks instead of diving into OOP straight away, Python is a good start though like this programme has

I receive a lot of support when I ask for it and you can get a lot of support but for myself, I have also been given the independence to complete my own tasks whatever it could be such as self-directed learning, resources to read which I was given (Support) and also given the resources and learning required upon discussion on a weekly 1-on-1 with my line manager who gives different resources and tasks I can learn to cement my understanding

In my experience I have gained a lot of support when required but for myself I am quite independent although there were some tasks which my training provider has happily set up some meetings efficiently to go through the task with myself and also they respond within 48 hours for feedback or questions that you may have which it is often a lot quicker than that

For myself I had already a lot of experience through self-directed learning and some knowledge doing ICT and Computer Science in A-Level but personally I think that a lot of the courses given helps you become "work ready" to an extent but I think that the employer itself it is a whole different scale and being moulded into the employer using this knowledge obtained.

There is a council where someone arranges different activities for the apprentices although personally I haven't participated in any of them. Additionally, I have had emails about football teams being set up but for myself I haven't participated. Near Christmas too my team arranged a get together in a pub after work so was a good social event for the team to get to know each other a bit more outside of work as well as whenever in the office we will get together somewhere at lunch.

Yes

They have been very welcoming from the start of myself joining, when you first join you get assigned a buddy for any questions but from my experience, my team itself has been extremely good at supporting myself that I haven't needed to use my buddy. There is also a general excitement to go to work as there is confidence and recognition for the work that we can produce as apprentices which makes yourself feel valued as well as workshops where there's mandatory training. One fear was that I would have imposter syndrome where you feel you shouldn't be there but even on challenging days so far I haven't felt that way at all

From my experience I would say that if you are unsure with anything don't be scared to ask questions whether it's messages or face to face or wherever, if you don't understand then don't be scared to speak out. Additionally, believe in your abilities as you are there for a reason, for myself my line manager didn't want to rush me into doing development work but I proved that I could cope and there were good outcomes because of this as well as getting the recognition so I would say don't be left behind if you want to do something then work towards and push to get that confidence to finally start as although a lot of it was challenging, the outcome of it was good and beneficial for me so I suppose the main advice from this is push yourself to work towards what you wish to. You also get access to a lot of learning and for myself being included in large important meetings straight away has been beneficial so don't be scared to ask to be included in them, if there are offers take them as you can learn a lot even if you don't think it will be beneficial as you can learn even terminology which helps your understanding a lot more.