Degree Apprentice Review

On a day-to-day basis I am working primarily as a Data Engineer. This will usually involve a couple Daily Standup Up meetings, depending on how many teams I am working with. I am solely responsible for a couple features on projects so I usually update the status of those in those meetings. After the meetings it is usually just head down and getting my work done.

While I have definitely gained the technical skills required to do my job as a Data Engineer, the more important skills are the ones that cannot be learned form a book/website etc. Such as speaking in meetings, knowing who your audience is and adjusting how you approach your explanations etc.

I am really enjoying my programme, there are a lot of other apprentices so we are able to get to know each other and help each other with things we are stuck on. Whether that be from work or from University. On top of that, I always get enough time away from work for my University lectures/assignments.

I would say it is well organised to an extent. However, when I first joined, I was shown a plan of my apprenticeship, with rotations happening yearly. This has not really come to fruition and it can be a struggle to find Data Science work to do, which is what my apprenticeship is.

My employer offers a lot of support. Always giving the necessary time-off for University and allows you to take the whole week before exams as a study week, which not all employers do according to some of the other people on my course. They are also happy to help on any of the admin side of the apprenticeship.

My training provider offers some support such as having office hours were you can reach out for any help. However, these office hours are typically during work hours (understandably). This is when I would not be working on university projects and instead be focusing on my work projects. I have often had to end up teaching myself certain topics due to the quality of the online lectures.

I do not think that the qualification is related too much to what I do at work. I view them as quite separate. However, a lot of the transferable skills such as time management (from having to juggle all the deadlines at university) has also helped me in the workplace.

Yes, these sorts of activities usually get posted on the boards in office, or on the companies portal for people to discover. Social activities are not arranged too often and it would be nice to have them more frequently, however this is not a major issue and they are always enjoyable!

Yes

It is a big company with a lot of good benefits. They are also very flexible with work hours (e.g. if you work late on one day, you can finish early the next). It offers pretty good job security as you know the company is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Make sure you look into Unilever and understand its values and purpose as this comes up in the interview. I would also do some research into what your role could typically involve so you can be prepared for the interview and also so you can make sure that what you are applying for is right for you.