I started my Apprenticeship in Software Development last January at NCFE, which I’ve recently completed. I’ve gained important knowledge and skills, as well as qualifications and work experience – all while getting paid!
Before I started my Apprenticeship, I attended the NCFE Rising Stars boot camp. During this, I achieved a Level 2 qualification in IT Professionalism, which included many different aspects of IT. This helped me better understand the path in IT I wanted to go down – Software Development, which I really enjoyed learning during the boot camp.
In my Apprenticeship, I achieved a Level 3 qualification in Software Development. I received some excellent training which helped me achieve the qualification, and prepared me for working in this area. I also got some great on the job experience as part of my Apprenticeship. I got the opportunity to work on new exciting projects with NCFE’s Development team, including the employer benefits project. This involves a central area where NCFE staff can check out the benefits offered to them as employees. I also worked on a project involving a change to the NCFE website that would make the lives of our customers easier when applying to deliver qualifications – watch this space!
Being actively on a project, I needed to know all the latest technologies used by NCFE. I received training from various members of NCFE’s Development team, who showed me a range of different programming languages which was all new to me. Learning about this at that point in my development really helped me and will definitely put me in a good position in the future. NCFE and the Apprenticeship have been great for me by giving me the skills I need to be successful in my role.
After completing my Level 3 Apprenticeship, I’ve been given a full-time Junior Software Developer role at NCFE, while also working towards a Level 4 qualification. This means I can definitely continue my learning while I carry out my role as a Junior Software Developer at NCFE.
It’s been really good to integrate with other team members and I feel like I’ve built up some really good relationships. The work experience was really helpful with that as I was able to work with the team and really understand how they do their jobs day to day. I’ve learnt how to work in an office environment, which is one of the best things about an Apprenticeship – you don’t get that when you’re studying a qualification alone, or even if you go to university sometimes. All of the skills I’ve learnt have helped me in my new role at NCFE.
