Cyber Security Apprentice - L8 Review

Day-to-day we complete Security Assessments, although this isnt every apprentice as each Security apprentice is placed in a different Security Team. We have one day a week to work on completing our apprenticeship with our learning provider, and plenty of time for self-learning and non-team related apprentice work. I spend lots of time shadowing, as well as picking up and creating new important projects for our team.

This is my first office job and as such I have learnt many new skills. From office etiquette - the team are very patient in this respect - and general office skills, to lots of new cyber knowledge and IT related information. There is a heavy focus to enhance personal skills, such as curiosity, leadership, critical thinking, time management etc.

This program is really enjoyable. It is great getting fully involved with the team while also having the opportunity to ask questions as needed. QA also are very happy to help, being very informative and easy to follow. Overall the experience has been great so far, and defintely worth my time - Im glad Im doing it.

On NatWest's side, the program is very well organised. The early careers team are frequently in touch to ensure good communication and cohesion. There are many opportunities for extra bits, which are always very well structured and communicated. On QA's side, there are sometimes moments where I question the structure and organisation of their programme, as there is occasionally confusion on their end. However it usually gets sorted out relatively quickly.

Natwest provides masses of support, my manager is an ex-apprentice himself so is very aware of how best to support me. They are also very adaptable in how they provide support, for example I myself prefer to give it a go first and get stuck in, being able to ask questions as and when, and getting feedback after. They have been very accomodating for this.

Overall I receive a decent amount of support from my training provider. During the start there were ocasionally lapses in communication and organisation as well as support, however once handed over to our qualifacation-specific learning assistors, it was very good support and communication. He has been massively helpful for everyones personal cases. and everyones individual struggles.

Having a good knowledge of cyber security is integral to performing my role, as such the qualification is massively helpful to performing my role. It is often easy to see the direct links between QA's content and the specific use-cases in my role.

There are a good amount of EC activities. The main one being the Apprentice Council which Im involved in myself. We then organise activities for the other apprentices. These are from social activities like bowling to development activities like interviewing practice. Additionally, everyone has three days of volunteering, and can use those either personally or as a team to volunteer in the community. Also there are many bank-wide activities such as sports, event.

Yes

It is defintely worth the time. The benfits (pay, pension, offers etc) are great, and the qualification is good too. The company is great to work for, and the *almost* guaranteed job at the end is great to aim for. Additionally the experience gained is amazing.

Apply as yourself - don't try to impress them in the interviews by pretending to be someone your not. Be honest and truthful to yourself. The recruitment process can sometimes be ling, arduous and stressful but don't panic, just push through it calmly. Use the interview planning pack they provide! It is massively helpful for the interview process.