Application Support Engineer Review
at Barclays
Degree Apprenticeship
Information Technology
Knutsford
Review Submitted: April 2021
Overall Rating
4.8 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
4.5/5
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Overview of Role
4/5
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Skills Development
4.6/5
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Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
4/5
I work in an application support team within Service Management. I support technical incidents surrounding a suite of applications used by colleagues across the bank from front-end errors to systems infrastructure issues. The role is incredibly varied with different challenges to face each and every day. Resilience is at the heart of everything.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
5/5
I really enjoy the programme. I find the company is absolutely brilliant and really looks after it's staff, testament to this is the fact that many staff who I work with, have stayed with the bank for 20, 30, 40 years. Working for Barclays far exceeded my expectations for an apprenticeship
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
4/5
One of the biggest elements of being on the apprenticeship scheme is the ability to work towards completing my degree one day a week. Within the role itself there's huge amounts of off the job learning hours, from shadowing colleagues in my team to working with other apprentices across the bank.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
5/5
There is a whole range of support both within my business area / technical team and with wider apprenticeship team colleagues across the bank. The induction training was incredibly comprehensive utilising some fantastic third party providers. The Barclays team have all been very supportive towards any issues in work or at university.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
5/5
There's a whole host of support from a range of angles. From day one you are supported by being matched with other apprentices further into the programme who are always available to support you informally, along with being assigned a talent coach who supports you throughout the apprenticeship journey.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
4/5
Man Met Uni provided a whole range of support, starting with an initial summer school, to regular support check ins with your skills coach. There's lots of opportunity to provide feedback to the university and get help and support from various tutors with any element of the course you may be struggling with.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
4/5
The qualification in it's first year has been teaching a breadth of skills, rather than depth. Working in financial services a lot of the tools we use are very bespoke and unique, however generally the skills and ideas the university teaches will specialise more further years into the course
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
5/5
There are so many extra curricular activities to get involved with! I am already, from home, apart of the gaming group who meet outside of work. When we return to the office thee are a whole range of sporting, religious, hobby based groups that meet and I can't wait to get involved with
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Barclays to a friend?
Yes
Why?
For all of the reasons outlined in the previous points: you are well supported, well paid, looked after and appreciated, have sound job security, earn an interesting degree through a reputable provider and get the opportunity to pick up so many different skills through getting really stuck in to the work place from day one
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Barclays?
Be honest and be yourself. The recruitment process is quite tedious just due to how many stages there is and how many applicants there are! I'd definitely recommend applying, especially due to the amazing campus in the country side, the fantastic company culture and awesome colleagues you will work with
