Software Engineer Degree Apprentice Review

My current role revolves around developing software from initial requirements through development, testing and creating documentation. I also take part in a variety of integration roles; installing, maintaining and troubleshooting issues on server systems. On a previous rotation, I've also worked as a web developer creating internal tools. This was slightly less formal but required close work with the customer.

Through the scheme so far I've gained or developed skills in three primary areas: My Technical skills working as a software engineer gave grown vastly as I've had experience writing software in a professional environment in a variety of languages. I've also gained a ton of knowledge about servers and virtualisation alongside Unix systems and scripting. I've also grown a lot with my professional behaviour and social skills having comfortably fitted in to a variety of teams.

From the company side, I have really been enjoying the program for the most part, though it depends on the kinds of placement which you get, the placement managers and how much you want to get out of things as an individual. When I did have an experience in a placement I wasn't happy with, everyone involved was happy for me to move and find something else. The education side has been more of a mixed bag, impacted by the fact that my cohort is the first Cranfield have run.

Initially, the program was very well structured and run with all aspects of the course planned well and articulated to us fully. Unfortunately, the individual in charge of this left the company on short notice so there has been a transition period where the structure is lacking and several apprentices, especially those in their 2nd or 3rd years, have lacked guidance.

There has been strong support from the employer for the entire scheme, we have clear points of contact to help with any issue we may have and everybody I have interacted with has been friendly and helpful, making an effort to bring apprentices up. Apprentices have also received pay increases and incentives in line with all other employees.

The novel teaching method being employed by the university has lead to some scepticism and the amount of actual time spent teaching by the staff during study days feels very minimal, we also notice that we are very much the beta testers for the course with things rapidly changing as we go based on feedback.

As of this point, approaching half way through the course, it feels like a very minimal amount of what has been covered at university has been relevant to my day to day work. Some has been completely irrelevant focused on project management type roles or just being general overviews on things like business intelligence. Other parts have been on topics which are theoretically practical but cover the work at such a trivial level that any level of knowledge from the workspace vastly exceeds it.

At my site, the extra curricular activities are somewhat limited, there is a social club for occasional theatre trips and such, lunchtime sporting events, such as football, on some weekdays and a recently started board game group. There are also regular socials at a local pub a couple of times a month. Other, larger, sites have a larger array of activities and groups including various apprentice run events.

Yes

If someone wants to get professional experience in engineering (software or otherwise) working for a well recognised world grade company whilst also getting a degree qualification out of it then BAE is a very compelling offer. Compared to just studying in university for 3-4 years, having that practical experience will put you so far ahead of peers when looking for a job. It's also a reasonable route for retraining from another field as, once again, that practical experience is invaluable.

The main pieces of advice would be to not hold back and always ask questions, this starts even at the interview stage and carries on through the entire experience, remember that you're there to learn and everyone around you is happy to push that. I'd also advise those considering it but think they're either too old (25+) or overqualified (have a Degree in something else) to give it a go if they want a shift in career, there's nothing to lose by applying.