Q and A on Degree Apprenticeship

Having completed A-Levels at Helsby High School, I was taken on as a Degree Apprentice - Software Engineer at 360 Systems alongside completing a BSc (Hons) Digital Technology Solutions Degree. Here are some questions and answers you may find useful if you are thinking of going down the degree apprentice route.

When did you become an apprentice developer?

I started at 360 Systems Summer 2017, after my last exam. The Degree course started in January 2018.

Why did you choose an apprenticeship over full time education?

I wanted to do something more hands on, get real experience and develop my skills further. The style of learning offered through a degree apprenticeship, where my studies are relevant to my work is ideal for me. The apprenticeship has also given me the change to kick-start my career with guidance and support.

What is involved?

I spend 20% of my time on day release at University. Whilst there I am fully supported by personal tutors and module leaders in my studies whilst I study toward my degree. When not at university, I am fully immersed in the business working to provide support and development to our clients and alongside experienced colleagues to continue to grow my skills.

What do you like about the apprenticeship?

I enjoy the variety of projects I work on and the challenge of learning something new. In particular, being able to take on information from colleagues to complete tasks and be able to use what I learn regularly at work. I believe that working hands-on in the areas I study gives me the practical experience needed to fully develop my skills.

How did the apprenticeship start?

After finishing my studies at Helsby High Sixth Form in July 2017, I was made aware of the Apprenticeship opportunity at 360 Systems through my college's careers advisor and sent in my application. After a successful interview, I began working in August 2017.
For the first month I was focused on improving the core skills needed as a web developer, these being HTML, CSS and JavaScript. More recently, I have progressed into .NET development.

What do you do on a day to day basis?

Currently, the majority of my work is to provide support and development to a range of our clients and their systems, including both web and desktop applications. This can range from resolving client queries to developing new functionality for existing applications.

An example of this would be my recent work on the Hitachi Forms web application we develop. This required some DOM traversal using JQuery, which I felt confident in this topic was covered in my university lectures.

Why did you choose a career in Software Engineering?

I have always enjoyed problem solving and exploring creative solutions whilst doing so. Providing support and development as part of my job role provides a way to tie in this to my work.

How have you found the apprenticeship so far?

The experience has been very valuable. My work has helped me with my studies whilst at university and vice versa. For example, one of my modules coursework was to upgrade a website both thematically and functionally. When doing so I could apply the knowledge from my first hand experience whilst working.

Digital and Technology Solutions Degree Apprenticeship

For more information on Degree Apprenticeships at 360 Systems call 0151-355-7911 or send you CV and covering letter to careers@360-systems.com