Software engineer Review

Mostly doing SQL development and solving incidents. Fixing issues in live. Whenever an incident is raised, it’s my job to check it out and see what I can do if anything to solve said issue. I do this with the help of a team mate and knowledge I’ve gained from training. Completing university modules.

Yes. Both from work and the uni side. I’ve done C# development, Java, complex SQL. I’ve also learned about working in a professional environment. The process specific to Cap for raising change requests whenever I need to implement something. Getting used to speaking up in meetings and gaining general interpersonal skills

I enjoy it my much more than I expected. I thought it would be an uptight environment working at a company but it’s actually quite relaxed (at least in my team). People are supportive and there’s loads of things to get involved in like socials and talks etc. The uni side is what I have a bigger problem with as they’re disorganised but Cap has definitely done their best to hear us out about that and work to make changes

I think the uni side is pretty disorganised as I said. Things like coursework being changed while we’re in the process of doing it. Having vague coursework briefs. Getting vague feedback. I also think there are aspects of the course that are unnecessary and are just there to check a box rather than actually help me develop

I receive a lot of support from my team. Fortunately I joined one where they already had an apprentice do they were familiar with what I’m doing. They’re very understanding about me taking study leave and needing time to do assignments so I’m not overloaded with work.

They do give me the info I need to complete the modules which is good. It’s very much a self teaching type of approach though. The “lectures” are more like Q and A sessions rather than a “here’s how xyz works”. Depending on who you are that can sound great or your worst nightmare. Luckily for me it’s ok so far but I am a bit nervous for the future as things get more difficult.

Depends on the module. There’s a couple in particular that are just completely irrelevant to my role and are extremely tedious. But there’s also a couple that are genuinely helpful and I can actually make the connection between work and uni. It’s mostly the case for technical modules.

Yes there’s loads of opportunities for that. I was able to do a careers fair within a few months of joining. There’s things where you can volunteer to help people with their CVs. There’s talks and holiday socials specifically for grads and apprentices. There’s plenty of chances to speak to more senior members of staff.

Yes

I think the work from home aspect is cool and the culture of the company in my experience has been quite casual. It’s not all tech people in suits hunched over laptops. The people are nice, starting salary is very good for an apprenticeship. The big cohort helps as well.

Before your interview, pick some of the values and examples of how you reflect those in your life. If you’re going for the tech course, I highly recommend learning at least one programming language because the bootcamp at the start is extremely difficult without that prior knowledge. Make sure you brush up on some basic software dev concepts.