GetMyFirstJob Ambassador
Hello, I Am Umayr
I chose an apprenticeship as I wanted to involve myself within the Technology industry at the earliest stages of my life to gain hands-on experience with the latest technologies and systems.
Tell us more about your experience
My chosen apprenticeship pathway is Software Engineering. As such, I’m currently specialising in it at university and working in different rotations across the SDLC every 9 months. On a day-to-day basis, I usually work on an assigned project with my team. This normally revolves around programming, design, automation, and testing amongst other tasks.
The most exciting project I’ve worked on is when I was given a lead role in automating the process for one of our information systems. This involved using human-centred ways of working to capture the requirements of the system’s users. I was tasked with formulating a solution and presenting a prototype before creating the automation. From this, I was able to program the automation process within Visual Basic and connect the program with a SQL database. This application allowed users to change passwords for multiple databases within the system at once, alongside the password being saved onto a secure database. This project was highly rewarding and exciting because of the problem-solving and creative elements!
“I won the BAME Apprentice of the Year Award 2021 in the Digital and Technology category!”
Amongst many proud moments, I’ve been proud of leading a comms campaign on behalf of the BT Muslim Network as Comms Lead. In November of 2020, I led a company-wide campaign to raise awareness about Islamophobia. This campaign involved organising a ‘knowledge call’, publishing information material, and sharing colleague stories on BT’s intranet page. The campaign reached colleagues across the business and received positive reactions from many. Alongside this, I’ve been so proud to win the BAME Apprentice of the Year Award 2021 for the Digital and Technology category!
I originally decided to do an apprenticeship as I wasn’t keen on taking on a student loan and acquiring debt by going to university. Most importantly, however, I wanted to involve myself within the Technology industry at the earliest stages of my life to gain hands-on experience with the latest technologies and systems. This would give me an advantage and allow me to pursue the highest level I can achieve.
I would highly recommend anyone considering an apprenticeship to go for it! An apprenticeship scheme offers so many benefits that traditional career paths may not, so it would be wise to take that into consideration. Always look out for the support an employer can give, as it plays a huge part in your success on a scheme. I would also suggest reaching out to current or former apprentices on the schemes you’re interested in to gain a better insight into the role and work you might undertake on a particular scheme.
“Reach out to former or current apprentices to get an insight into the role you’re considering.”
While applying for apprenticeships during sixth form, I found that a lot of support offered was centred around the traditional university route. This meant that I had access to little information about apprenticeships and how to successfully secure a role! Due to this, I had to conduct a lot of research into the different apprenticeships and talk to apprentices in different companies to gain some tricks and tips on how to succeed. In the end, I was able to secure three job offers from top employers!
The support that I’ve received from BT during my apprenticeship has been immense. From the start, my managers have been helpful in explaining the dynamics and structure of the business and what the role of each team is within the company. This has given me a broader understanding of BT. Alongside this, the dedicated apprentice team within the Technology units has offered amazing opportunities to help me excel within my role and engage in extracurricular activities that have bolstered my personal brand.
My university has also been extremely supportive when it comes to tracking my progress and ensuring that I’m able to complete my assignments. I’ve been assigned a dedicated mentor who checks in with me and my line manager every term to discuss my progress. Additionally, for each module we’re given one-to-one sessions by the tutor to ask any questions we have about it. These focussed sessions have helped me so much and allowed me to get top marks so far!
Beyond my apprenticeship, I intend to carry on my role at BT as a Software Engineering professional. I aspire to work my way up and lead on critical projects within the business to make a lasting impact on our customers.
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