Technology Degree Apprenticeships @ 25 Years Old

[dowie]

Yeah that's the plan, I've had enough time to think about what interests me as previously I had no idea what I wanted a career in. Hopefully the course gives me a good base to push on from and in the future I could consider MSc once I'd been in the industry for a few years.

Depends on the MSc, for some it might not be suitable... I mean if you were to do something that just required a quantitative undergrad along the lines of Maths, Physics, Engineering, Computer science then you'd probably not fit the requirements. Then again you can always study for things like say a graduate certificate in mathematics from the University of London if you end up wanting to study some post grad area requiring it.

There are of course some MSc courses that won't require that sort of thing and perhaps focus more on very applied subjects/professional skills etc.. for which your undergrad + work experience would be a good fit.

edit (typed 'masters' when I meant to type 'undergrad')

 

[ultralaser]

It's all quite simple, get a good degree from a good university and you're all good.

 

[mid_gen]

Gambisk what's your work/life balance like working for a software company? Should I expect a typical 9-5/6 or is it similar to recruitments 8-7?

It really depends on the company and the industry.

When I was at JP Morgan I put in some stupid crunch time, 7 days a week in the office until past midnight. Generally the attitude there was "we're paying you a lot so you gotta work for it". If you want to climb the career ladder generally you'd have to put in more hours than the other guy.

I'm not in IB anymore

 

[Dellboy]

It really depends on the company and the industry.

When I was at JP Morgan I put in some stupid crunch time, 7 days a week in the office until past midnight. Generally the attitude there was "we're paying you a lot so you gotta work for it". If you want to climb the career ladder generally you'd have to put in more hours than the other guy.

I'm not in IB anymore

I've heard about the crazy hours the IB lot are expected to work. I've got family who work in city law firms and they put in silly hours, not as silly as banking though.

I'm happy to put a shift in but having some sort of balance is important to me.

What sort of interaction did you have with the tech teams (if any) and did they seem to enjoy working there?

 

[mid_gen]

I've heard about the crazy hours the IB lot are expected to work. I've got family who work in city law firms and they put in silly hours, not as silly as banking though.

I'm happy to put a shift in but having some sort of balance is important to me.

What sort of interaction did you have with the tech teams (if any) and did they seem to enjoy working there?

That was on the tech side, I was a lead developer, then in an architect role.

After I did a stint as a dev lead at HSBC before I had my "**** this, I'm out" moment.

There's a lot to be said for getting debt free and a pile of money in the bank *before* going into game development. I don't regret working in IB tech, but it takes a special kind of psychopath to do it for a whole career imo

 

[Dellboy]

That was on the tech side, I was a lead developer, then in an architect role.

After I did a stint as a dev lead at HSBC before I had my "**** this, I'm out" moment.

There's a lot to be said for getting debt free and a pile of money in the bank *before* going into game development. I don't regret working in IB tech, but it takes a special kind of psychopath to do it for a whole career imo

Oh bloody hell, that's pretty crazy. I'd look to stick at it for a few years after the four year programme and then see if I enjoy the work/if it's worth it. Game development sounds like fun but I imagine not as financially rewarding as the financial sector, could be wrong as I've worked in neither!

 

[mid_gen]

There's no downsides to working in IB tech for a while, worst case scenario like me you get fed up with the hours, the stress, the politics and BS, and walk away from it with a pile of money in the bank and a CV that'll get you another job pretty much wherever you want.

Games are much more fun and interesting to work in, but yeah, the money's not even close. Good enough though.

 

[blairw]

I done a degree (foundation) apprenticeship as my route into working life after I dropped out of 1st year uni. I followed it up straight away with the modules required to make it a full hons BSc which was worth the reasonable amount of effort I had to put in.

My path from then looks like this

3 Years Apprenticeship with BT (gaining FDSc)
2 Years Project Management Role (finishing off Full Hons BSc)
2 Years Service Management Role (no learning)
Took Voluntary Redundancy from BT
2 Years now with Microsoft as a Service Deliver Manager

I am now going through the process of deciding if doing a MSc is going to be of benefit to me and to the company with my manager in order to secure some funding from work.

Long story short, do I recommend degree apprenticeships? YES! A good friends of mine started at the same time as me at BT at age 25 (I was 19) and has stayed the course with BT and is in a "Head of" position at the moment. There are many similar stories to ours if you apply yourself and have a good head on your shoulders

 

[dowie]

Oh bloody hell, that's pretty crazy. I'd look to stick at it for a few years after the four year programme and then see if I enjoy the work/if it's worth it. Game development sounds like fun but I imagine not as financially rewarding as the financial sector, could be wrong as I've worked in neither!

There are plenty of IT jobs in those banks that don't need to have anything to do with the investment banking side of things (it is just one of several business areas for a big bank and the one with the longest hours, at least for the investment bankers themselves - I didn't know their IT bods were working those hours too but I guess it makes sense), you certainly don't need to work 7 days a week in plenty of IT roles. IT roles directly interacting with front office trading desks could be stressful too (though they often only need to work 5 days a week), you might well end up involved in some drawn out project related to some recent regulatory change etc.. rather dull boring stuff IMO that could be done from 9-6-ish, Monday-Friday but become a specialist in this stuff and you can get some fairly hefty contractor rates, especially if you pull off shady moves like becoming the main domain expert then quitting in the middle of the project... unless they keep you on as a contractor for about a grand a day. My friend had to deal with this happening in his team recently, he's not a fan of the guy who did it but is going to be stuck with him for at least another year or so.

 

[Dellboy]

I done a degree (foundation) apprenticeship as my route into working life after I dropped out of 1st year uni. I followed it up straight away with the modules required to make it a full hons BSc which was worth the reasonable amount of effort I had to put in.

My path from then looks like this

3 Years Apprenticeship with BT (gaining FDSc)
2 Years Project Management Role (finishing off Full Hons BSc)
2 Years Service Management Role (no learning)
Took Voluntary Redundancy from BT
2 Years now with Microsoft as a Service Deliver Manager

I am now going through the process of deciding if doing a MSc is going to be of benefit to me and to the company with my manager in order to secure some funding from work.

Long story short, do I recommend degree apprenticeships? YES! A good friends of mine started at the same time as me at BT at age 25 (I was 19) and has stayed the course with BT and is in a "Head of" position at the moment. There are many similar stories to ours if you apply yourself and have a good head on your shoulders

That's exactly the sort of career path I'm looking to take. I'd like to think I've got a decent head, it's certainly better than it was before beginning work in recruitment. Glad to hear some real world examples that haven't come from a company trying to sell their apprenticeship!

Do you feel there's any disadvantages career/knowledge wise compared to graduates that have come via uni in your experience?

There are plenty of IT jobs in those banks that don't need to have anything to do with the investment banking side of things (it is just one of several business areas for a big bank and the one with the longest hours, at least for the investment bankers themselves - I didn't know their IT bods were working those hours too but I guess it makes sense), you certainly don't need to work 7 days a week in plenty of IT roles. IT roles directly interacting with front office trading desks could be stressful too (though they often only need to work 5 days a week), you might well end up involved in some drawn out project related to some recent regulatory change etc.. rather dull boring stuff IMO that could be done from 9-6-ish, Monday-Friday but become a specialist in this stuff and you can get some fairly hefty contractor rates, especially if you pull off shady moves like becoming the main domain expert then quitting in the middle of the project... unless they keep you on as a contractor for about a grand a day. My friend had to deal with this happening in his team recently, he's not a fan of the guy who did it but is going to be stuck with him for at least another year or so.

You'd have to have balls of steel to pull something like that Not sure if I'd fancy burning bridges at a company like that but who knows - £1k a day over the course of a year is a lot of cash... I can't imagine the roles I've applied for/will be applying for at places like Santander, Barclays and Lloyds will involve those kind of hours.

 

[dowie]

You'd have to have balls of steel to pull something like that Not sure if I'd fancy burning bridges at a company like that but who knows - £1k a day over the course of a year is a lot of cash... I can't imagine the roles I've applied for/will be applying for at places like Santander, Barclays and Lloyds will involve those kind of hours.

I'd imagine they'd not in most cases, they've all got significant retail and commercial businesses and I'd guess with the apprenticeship you'd not necessarily know where you'd end up but I suspect that as an apprentice who is juggling study and part time work at the bank then they're unlikely to want to be reliant on you to come in at weekends or to be on call etc...

Yup it is generally a good idea not to burn bridges, certainly in some areas of IT it can become a very small world where, once you've been around for a little while, almost everyone who does that role whether in London, NYC, Singapore etc.. either knows you or knows someone who knows you. Some of the more lucrative contracts then come via word of mouth/personal recommendations etc.. it is definitely a good idea to try and build up rapport with people, make a good impression.

 

[blairw]

Do you feel there's any disadvantages career/knowledge wise compared to graduates that have come via uni in your experience?

Ultimately I did miss out on the rotational style of most graduate schemes but apart from that the only thing I feel gives me a slight disadvantage is the University I "Studied" at. My degree was accredited by Stafford University and while not completely terrible, it is hardly Russell Group. How much of a disadvantage is that? Not much, my experience at the age of 28 is now 9 years in customer facing delivery and project management and I have climbed the career ladder fairly quickly.

The next step for me is looking into what I need to take it to the next level, if that is gaining a more "weighted" MSc from a top university then it is something I need to decide on.

 

[mid_gen]

The details of your degree become irrelevant as soon as you have some professional experience.

Degree - tick.

That's the extent of the scrutiny your choice of University will have once you are in the workforce.