Level 6 Software Engineering Apprenticeship Review
at Vodafone
Degree Apprenticeship
Information Technology
Newbury, Berkshire
Review Submitted: May 2022
Overall Rating
0.8 /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!
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
How much support do you receive from your employer?
I also found out during that time that all the software engineers from my year group had a similar problem and no one was receiving any training. Thus, I decided to set up a meeting with both the apprentice managers and all the software engineers to tell them that at least half of the software engineers want to quit already as a result. However, it's been 6 months now and nothing has been done, the apprentice managers have ignored us time after time when we contact them for support, no one has switched teams and both of the apprentice managers have quit their jobs.
In addition, I asked my line manager if an experienced/senior software engineer can be added to the team to support the apprentices and interns on the team since there were no experienced software engineers on the team to teach us how to code. However, the answer I got was "if there are senior software engineers on the team then they would be doing my job". This doesn't make sense to me as the whole point in having one is to be trained up so that I can do my job.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Vodafone to a friend?
Why?
Also, your job is not guaranteed at the end of the apprenticeship if you're part of the Vodafone Group and your annual salary increase is not guaranteed either.
As a result of this, I know that some of the apprentices have already quit and have received better job offers. Others are just staying for the degree and will be quitting after that. As for myself, I will not be staying at Vodafone because I have not received any training and the degree isn't worth staying for either.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Vodafone?
I would also hire more people to support the apprentices and to give them the authority to move you to another team since the process of moving someone to another team is either nonexistent or just takes a long time.