Devops Engineer Review
at CGI
Degree Apprenticeship
Information Technology
Leatherhead
Review Submitted: May 2021
Overall Rating
3.8 /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!
3/5
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Overview of Role
5/5
-
Skills Development
3.6/5
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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
As a devops engineer, I am responsible for maintaining the development systems and processes used by the project team to create digital solutions for clients. This includes automating deployment proceedures, automating testing, deploying the system to the target platform for the client, designing new deployment strategies, and debugging system (Linux) issues when they arise.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
2/5
The work side at CGI is really interesting and rewarding. I get exposure to opportunities and technologies I would not have access to without being at CGI.
The side of the course I least enjoy is the teaching from the training provider (University of Winchester). The communication between the university and students has been appalling at times, with the Uni trying to change on of our assignments in Week 11 out of 12 (3 weeks before it was due). The lectures leave much to be desired content wise, with only a few being engaging and exciting.
The side of the course I least enjoy is the teaching from the training provider (University of Winchester). The communication between the university and students has been appalling at times, with the Uni trying to change on of our assignments in Week 11 out of 12 (3 weeks before it was due). The lectures leave much to be desired content wise, with only a few being engaging and exciting.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
5/5
When starting the apprenticeship, I had hardly any technical experience. Thanks to CGI, over the past three years I have been able to gain experience in Ansible and Jenkins automation, Red Hat/CentOS Linux administration, virtualisation technologies (VMWare), container platforms (Docker), and a variety of languages and frameworks (Java, HTML, CSS, Bash, Angular, TypeScript, Javascript, SQL).
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
5/5
The course covers a wide range of concepts and subjects, ranging from business focused modules such as project management, and business transformation, to more technical modules such as software development. To help with managing your time, CGI assigns a workplace mentor who will have regular catch up meetings. Within the workplace individuals are also willing to support you with sharing knowledge and reviewing work where needed.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
5/5
Each apprentice is assigned a workplace buddy (often who has already been through the degree apprenticeship scheme), and a workplace mentor to monitor their progress. From my experience, managers have been understanding of the workload and commitments that degree apprentices have. In your last year of study, CGI also provide an extra 30 days of leave to support you working on your dissertation - a real lifeline in a stressful final semester.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
1/5
The University of Winchester provide next to no support for additional training. They seem to instead not understand how much work you have to do, always adding additional workload when you least need it (e.g. setting multiple formative assignments and weekly activities to complete that do not contribute to your grade OR learning/knowledge).
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
2/5
Nearly all of the technical knowledge I have gained has been from the workplace. If you are a technical apprentice, the university degree provides you with a good basis for academic writing, understanding of business process and management, but does not significantly improve your technical skill set. The qualification is also often frowned upon by other employers, as it's an unusual degree (they often prefer a straight computer science degree). However, the experience you gain in the workplace more than makes up for this shortfall.
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
Within CGI there is a sports and social club, where subsidised sports and social events are run. Previous activities included cocktail masterclasses, meals out, airsoft, go-karting, ascot/epsom races, pub parties, running events, golf tournaments, badminton, bouldering/rock climbing, and anything else that members want to suggest. Within projects there are also often team lunches and other activities occurring throughout the year.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend CGI to a friend?
Yes
Why?
There is a lot of opportunity for learning new skills and technologies. Joining the CGI degree apprenticeship provides not-only a degree, but three years of experience working for a industry leading IT and business consultancy. This experience is invaluable when comparing CGI graduates to full-time-uni graduates, as it gives them real-industry lead knowledge, making them more employable.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to CGI?
At the assessment centres be yourself, and don't over think anything. If you've got through to the assessment centre stage then you are likely qualified on paper. The assessment centre is for both YOU and CGI to get to know each other. The assessment centre is a long day, but food is provided (in non-covid times)!
