Advice on getting into a software engineer degree apprenticeship.

[ThePilotWhoCantFly]

Hi, I'm looking at applying for a degree apprenticeship in software engineering.

The company is going to be migrating some of their legacy products to a cloud-native structure which I assume is AWS from the statement below,

"Working with services such as AWS and programming languages such as C#, Java and .NET".

I have GCSE and A-levels in Computer Science and ICT and for computer science, we used vb.net as the programming language for our coursework. After sixth form, I went on to truck driving for over a year and I don't remember much about computer science.

-Would gaining the AWS cloud practitioner certification before applying have a benefit or will it be a drawback?
-What could I do to increase my chances of getting into the apprenticeship?
-There are going to be assessments. Does anyone know what they will consist of (Programming, Computer science and ICT basics, etc.)?
-Would trying to learn the syntax/basics of the above programming language be of any help?

the deadline for applications is 11th of Feb 2024.

I appreciate all the help and advice.

 

[GravyMonster]

-Would gaining the AWS cloud practitioner certification before applying have a benefit or will it be a drawback?
Any qualification is worthwhile, although I'm not familiar with that one specifically. If it's more infrastructure-related and the job you're looking at is for programming, then your time may be better spent learning something else more relevant.

-Would trying to learn the syntax/basics of the above programming language be of any help?
Yes, absolutely. I'd start doing this immediately as it's the main skill you'll need in the job. If you already have some .Net knowledge (even if it is VB) would be helpful. C# is not too much of a jump to learn from there in terms of syntax.
If this is your first developer job I'd start learning SOLID principles and start getting an understanding of basic structural patterns.

 

[!bluetonic!]

Hello. Welcome to the forum.

The best you can do at the stage I feel you're at is to learn and get your own personal portfolio together, showing examples of your development in this field.

Get a GitHub account, get an AWS account and start practicing. PluralSight is great and look for free trials or discounts.

 

[peterwalkley]

Reading that job description, they're targeting "devops" ability. You'll (eventually) need to learn development (Java, C# etc) and operations (the AWS stuff). Pick one to start with - don't try and learn both at the same time, it will be overwhelming. In terms of an interview, the development side is likely easier to follow as there's tons of guides out there on the developer interview process (leetcode etc). Operations interviews tend to be more a pop quiz about random unix commands, can you write terraform scripts, explain what various AWS/Azure/GCP services do etc etc.

You can do the AWS learning largely for free. Create your own AWS account and go play with stuff and follow tutorials. Most of the services have a free tier and just make sure to delete things once you're done so there isn't an AWS bill hitting your credit card. One of the very early lessons in AWS is putting a cost limit on your account so that you can't accidentally run up a huge bill. I think I set mine to £10 per month and haven't got anywhere near that ever.

AWS Certifications cost money as you pay for the test. That's something you'd really want the employer to be paying for.

I would highly recommend skilling up the programming side first. Pay for developers is almost always better than for ops - certainly at similar experience levels.

 

[mid_gen]

For graduate level roles you need to demonstrate a base level technical ability, but we're going to be looking at you as a person mostly. Technical skills can be taught easily enough, if you're someone that demonstrates a character that is willing to learn.

Do some C# exercises. Make sure you can do basics like write a linked list on demand. Hopefully the employer is fairly enlightened and doesnt do stupid whiteboard tests.

Do you display initiative? (Make a portfolio)

Are you curious, do you ask good questions? (Have a good list of prepared questions before interview, put some questions in your application)

It's ok to not know things, it's what you do when you get stumped that matters. (Don't panic if you get asked something you can't answer, explain how you would go about solving it, don't just say "I don't know") .

 

[dowie]

I think some of the replies have misunderstood what is being asked about; this isn't a graduate role for starters nor would I conclude from a single sentence that it's necessarily anything related to dev ops. The leetcode suggestion is probably jumping ahead a bit too given that he's not yet started whatever programming 101 type module the course will offer.

Essentially, a regular BSc over 3 years = 3 * 8 month semesters + lots of holiday + tuition fees + debt. (Could source your own internships in the summer).

But a degree apprenticeship gives a BSc after 4 years of full-time work combined with study and often a graduate role with that same employer at the end of those 4 years. No tuition fees and no debt as the employer/sponsor pays the tuition and a salary (you do forego the long holidays though).

AFAIK the courses are a bit more practical/vocational, so perhaps if intending to go on to graduate study an undergraduate degree from a good research university would still be preferable, ditto to if aiming for an area where employers have "target" universities to recruit from. But it seems like a good option in the case where the alternative would be a regular degree and the same kind of job/employer targeted afterward anyway.

-Would gaining the AWS cloud practitioner certification before applying have a benefit or will it be a drawback?
-What could I do to increase my chances of getting into the apprenticeship?
-There are going to be assessments. Does anyone know what they will consist of (Programming, Computer science and ICT basics, etc.)?
-Would trying to learn the syntax/basics of the above programming language be of any help?

I can't see how an AWS certificate would be a drawback but I'd probably not focus on it too much, you mentioned two languages (perhaps initially focus on whichever one the university course will be teaching too).

There's no harm necessarily in directly asking them for details of the assessment either and whether there are any technical areas you need to focus on. I'd not worry too much about that though as I don't think they can really get too technical at this stage, after all this is an application for a training scheme aimed at 6th form/college leavers essentially, graduate-style software interview questions are 4 years away at this point! Perhaps you'd be better off reviewing the A-level computer science and ICT stuff you already studied since you mentioned you'd forgotten it and that's the level they're recruiting from.

It could well be the case that they're interviewing and conducting more generic assessments, just demonstrating that you're a team player/not a numpty and are motivated and keen on this career may be sufficient.