Software Developer Apprentice Review

I work in an agile software development team, writing code and creating and testing financial technology applications. I have daily stand-ups, one to ones with my managers, scrum meetings, including sprint planning and reviews etc. I also work in a Great Place To Work (GPTW) team, trying to improve wellbeing and enjoyment at work.

Yes I have - I have gained skills in modern technologies such as C#, .NET, git, postman, object oriented technology. I've also developed my testing skills, knowledge and experience of agile methodologies, interpersonal skills and professional skills including communication, team-work and flexibility. Also learned other technologies through my training provider.

My team is lovely and most people are great to work with, most people are really supportive and I really value being able to work with them. However the pressure of completing a full time job while completing my degree has lead me to become burnt out and having poor mental health, affecting my relationships with my friends and family negatively. One technical leader in particular there has created a culture of fearing mistakes and my technical experience has not been trusted and called into question, which has knocked my confidence and led to me not enjoying work.

The programme is well structured, modules at uni are well-organised and assignments are usually clear. However there's sometimes a barrier of communication between the training provider /uni and my workplace and we sometimes find ourselves having to be the middle man. For example, the uni hadn't made it clear to our workplace what the expectations and requirements were for our end point assessments, and this caused us a lot of stress trying to find out this information ourselves and relay conversations between both parties.

My manager and their manager (and their manager!) are all really lovely and supportive, always checking in on how we are doing and seeing what they can do to support me. Support from the uni/training provider is good too, although it can be hard to get in touch with people when not physically on campus (of which we are only there 6 weeks a year). At the workplace the only issue with support is with one technical leader in particular, but everyone else has been great.

My employer is always looking out for ways they can support us, giving extra time to complete assignments if needed. Always willing to help and see what they can do and that's really appreciated. No issues so far, but even with this support from the workplace we still find it challenging to have enough time to complete our coursework without having to sacrifice most of our personal time.

The training we get from the uni is good, but it's not very modern or up to date with modern workplaces. We spend a lot of time learning about outdated technologies, often referencing books and materials written back in the 1970s. Most of the time the content we're taught isn't helpful for the workplace, except a few software-implementation focused modules.

Yes there are, we have an Early Careers team who organise lots of events. However, due to the amount of coursework we have to do and the pressure of completing projects at work, I rarely have time for these. I only really go to them when they are mandatory due to a lack of time and mental energy left over after doing coursework.

Yes

The company itself is a good company to work for, except for one person but everyone else is great. My struggles here are more related to the fact that I'm doing an apprenticeship and don't have time for much self-care. The company does put a lot into trying to improve well being for employees, it just doesn't help me because I don't have time to do any of the wellbeing activities they organise.

When I applied for my apprenticeship they seemed to care more about my personality than my technical knowledge - maybe this is just because I was joining as an apprentice so it was expected that my technical knowledge would be learned on the job. Showcase your enthusiasm and willingness to learn and develop more than anything else.