Software Engineer (Technology Apprentice) Review

My day-to-day involves attending meetings with my line manager and team, completing any apprentice work that needs done, working on learning activities (i.e. tutorials/projects) and working on any tasks that I have been given to do. My responsibilities are very minimal at this point but there is always something that I can do to keep myself busy and learning. I have had some coding lessons with members of my team which have been really useful and will soon be attending virtual classes setup by the apprenticeship.

We had a really great induction and the apprentice team were very helpful and informative and let us know how they would support us during the apprenticeship and they continue to organise events for the apprentices throughout the year. My line manager provides a lot of support as well and has regular catch-ups to talk about my progress and if I need any assistance. The majority of the programme for me is self study and I am slowly being introduced to picking up tasks in my team to give me some experience and so I can take part in meetings. I think that the only let down comes from QA and the training which I assumed would be quite intensive but its just a few week long classes throughout the year so I am very fortunate that my team are keen to train me in other ways. Apart from that I have nothing bad to say about the company as they have been very accommodating.

I have received a lot of support from my employer. I think I have been put in a great team and I have a great manager who offers a lot of support. I have also been given a mentor who is in my team who I can contact for any technical questions and they have also been very active in teaching some coding lessons. If I have any problems, whether its a technical question or a hardware issue my team have been very helpful and have been quick to sort the problem. I think the general attitude towards my apprenticeship from my team has been very positive and I have never been made to feel like I am in the way as they are very understanding about the fact I have joined with no experience.

I have a QA assessor who I have regular meetings with, some are just catch-ups whilst other meetings are to sign off on coursework that I have completed. They have been good at communicating through email about setting up classroom dates etc. They are also available to contact if I have any questions about coursework.

All of the classes that I have been enrolled in should be very useful to my role. I am very excited to start with the classes as I think that they will help me become more confident in my role. I have heard from other apprentices in a similar role that the classroom sessions are really useful and interactive.

Yes

Yes, I would recommend NatWest to a friend. I think that they are a great company to work for and I have been shown nothing but support. I think that the apprentice programme is also fantastic as it is suitable to anyone who is interested in a career with the bank whether they are looking for their first job or wanting to switch careers completely without needing the experience normally required for the job.