Software Engineer Review

There was 13 weeks of training prior to starting in the office this then meant that I wasnt needed to go into college one day a week. Personally I think this is a good way of doing things as it means that you are getting hands on with the actual job; however, some of the time during the 13 weeks some of the training programmes were har and I beleive that if we were shown why we would apply some techniques in the workplace, it would have made a lot more sense.

After finishing sixth form I two weeks later went straight into the capgemini apprenticeship, personally I felt it a massive step up techinically from what I had done in GSCE & A-level ICT. I did find the exams quite challenging throughout the course and I at time felt a bit lost with it all; however, there are loads of people around to help you and your class mates and colleagues are often the ones who help you the most. In terms of skills learnt I have learned SQL,PLSQL, data modelling, Java and many more.

As a whole I did enjoy the programme and met some really nice people even making some new friends. At time I found the apprenticeship a little lost within its organisation, but this is expected as there are so many people to manage and people doing different jobs. Looking back on the 13 weeks there was points where I struggled however I have learnt a lot not just about IT but also about business and how it works day to day

As an employee I do feel valued by capgemini, on occassion I had chance to talk one on one the the people who ran the course and they always offered me with feedback which showed that they did differentiate individuals and they did care about how you as a person was getting on.

Personally I didnt feel that the apprenticeship programme was greatly structured and organised, at times I had to rely on second hand information to instruct me about where I was the following week and what it is I would be doing.

Alot of the time during training I found that the QA instructors were very happy to help and were willing to put in time and effort with you in order to get the best out of you. Sometimes however I did find that the instructors expected a higher knowledge level even though when applying through capgemini it said that no previous knowledge regarding the coding etc is needed. Furthermore I did feel that one or two instructors werent at a good 'teaching' level. Yes they certainly knew their stuff but when the training course is comprised of 15-23 year olds I dont believe they handled the teaching very well at all.

I recieved a lot of support from the employer and I really like my place of work in the office, my colleagues are all very nice and very helpful when it comes to helping me with problems etc.

The salary is very good and for an 18 year old, I think its one of the best apprenticeship packages out there and this is one of the reasons I decided to apply for the opportunity in the first place.

During the 13 weeks if you live on campus there are many opportunities to interact and play sport with others, I have not really been in the office long enough to find out about the opportunities but I do know that there are opportunities to socialise with colleagues outside of work.

Yes

I would reccommend capgemini to a friend as there is a good support network around you, you are very well looked after, the money is very good as a starting wage and you meet a lot of interesting friendly people.

Keep in mind that you may have to travel and stay away from home, keep and open mind and go with the flow sometimes you may feel that you are being forgot about or not thoguht of but you are and in the end it all works out!