DevOps Engineer Review
at Barclays
Higher Level Apprenticeship
Information Technology
Knutsford
Review Submitted: March 2023
Overall Rating
4.6 /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
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Overview of Role
5/5
-
Skills Development
4.4/5
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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
My role as an Apprentice DevOps Engineer is focused mostly on learning, through job shadowing, business documentation and online courses. My daily tasks involve environment management, cloud infrastructure and automation, as well as managing security tools and CI-CD pipelines. Most of my code is written using Groovy, Python and JavaScript.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
4/5
I quite enjoy my course, it has been a struggle as everything from DevOps ideology to corporate culture was new to me but it has been fun nonetheless. I take satisfaction from learning and the opportunities this role has provided, and so I typically feel engaged and happy after a work week.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
5/5
Prior to this apprenticeship I knew nothing about DevOps whatsoever, and so I have had to learn a variety of new skills. For example, I had to learn to write in Groovy in order to create modules for Jenkins pipelines, as well as different forms of IaC for cloud infrastructure services.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
3/5
The learning course was brand new when I joined, and so it didn't fully align with my role in the office. As such, there were a fair amount of issues which needed to be hashed out. The business side of the course however was very well structured, and I believe most of the issues came from the course being fresh.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
5/5
I have and continue to receive plenty of support from my employer. During the learning phase of the course, I was offered temporary shadowing of other teams in order to meet project requirements, and the business has been very supportive of my personal needs in regards to time off and health.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
4/5
My training provider was always available through the learning portal for support, and they offered regular weekly calls to discuss any non-learning based issues for safeguarding. When working on my projects, my training provider offered check-in calls to assess my progress and assist my understanding whenever I needed any help.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
5/5
The technical skills covered in the classroom sessions for my qualification were incredibly helpful for my role performance. We covered a variety of skills and tools, including building cloud infrastructure, writing a CI-CD pipeline, and coding in a high level programming language. All of these are skills I use in my BAU tasks.
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
My office offers a lot of extra-curricular activities, and I volunteer to help organise some of my own. On site, we have different sports teams including tennis, football and cricket, as well as a gaming group which gets involved with charity esports events. We also have after work socials for celebrating milestones and sometimes just for networking around the business.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Barclays to a friend?
Yes
Why?
The culture here is unlike any example of corporate that I've heard elsewhere. Everybody seems happy to help at the drop of a hat, and the opportunities available to colleagues feel only limited by how much you ask for. It's a very welcoming and forgiving workplace, with a focus on learning from mistakes and teaching others your lessons.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Barclays?
Having a background in your desired business area will always be helpful, however the best quality a potential employee could have is an aptitude and enthusiasm for learning. Be honest during the interview process, and be open to different possibilities upon joining. Don't be intimidated by the application process.
