To celebrate National Apprenticeship week we’re showcasing some of our fantastic apprentices here at 3Squared.
Leon Martin, 3Squared Apprentice:
Hello, I’m Leon and I’ve being working for 3Squared as an apprentice for over 2 years now. To mark National Apprenticeship Week, I’d like to share a brief look over how I’ve progressed over the years.
I started back in 2019 after leaving secondary school and had some self-taught knowledge but overall, I was coming in blind in most areas. I knew basic programming and nothing about SDLC or how software companies structure their products.
I was thrown into the deep end at first but in my opinion it’s the best way to learn and learn I did. I had never touched web development before yet within the first couple of months I was confident with technologies I had not used before and always had someone who could help me out too.
My college course is a Level 4 in Software Development this includes looking at the full lifecycle of a software application as well as the creation of the software applications. Java was chosen for my language exam which I was using C# at work, so it was very interesting looking at two languages although similar.
The SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle) part of the course allowed me to understand what our business practices are and other practices that could be used. This gave me a larger view of the business and the thought that goes into creating and planning for projects.
In reverse, the things I learnt about SDLC at work correlated to what I was doing at college therefore I was getting the best of both worlds, gaining real world experience from working daily and learning about Software Development at college.
Two years on from starting and now I can confidently create Websites/SPA as well as APIs, databases and don’t forget testing all of them too. From knowing nothing when I started, I have been involved in some exciting projects including working on our application doing various tasks that go to production, creating an external library in Java for automation tests and I confidently know many of the well-known methodologies, their specific use cases, pros and cons as well as why we use Agile over others.
I’d like to say I’ve learnt a lot within this time, not even just with the technologies I’ve use or the practices we stick to but also the social aspects working in an office environment, collaborating with colleagues and presenting work I have done. These are all very important social aspects that people overlook and without them, I would not be anywhere near as confident.
Finally, I can’t recommend an apprenticeship enough, the value of the skills, relationships, and character you build especially if you’re coming straight from school is immeasurable and I honestly can’t think where I’d be today without the experience. I want to give a huge thank you to everyone I have and still am working with for their great help and the support they’ve have given me.
Callum Beachell, 3Squared Apprentice:
Hello, I’m Callum, I am 3Squared’s degree level apprentice. I have been working at 3Squared for over 3 years. As part of the National Apprenticeship Week, I would like to highlight my progression over the years.
Back in 2018, I decided to have a career change from Networking and pursue Software Engineering. I joined 3Squared with no fundamental knowledge of programming at all. I was sent to a bootcamp at Sheffield Hallam University where I was taught the fundamentals of many sectors such as Software Engineering, Cyber Security, Networking and Project Management.
From the bootcamp, I was able to join 3Squared with an instant improvement on my previous technical skills. This inspired me to get my head immediately stuck in at 3Squared and tackle any challenges on the way. Due to the friendly environment and wealth of knowledge at 3Squared, I have been able to absorb masses of knowledge and experience.
The more I got involved at 3Squared the more I wanted to learn more. 3Squared takes great value in providing employees the best learning opportunities available. Due to my interest to learn more, a 3Squared employee took me under their wing and provided me with a learning path that has been a huge factor to my success. 3Squared have managed to take my skills from nothing to confidently being able to use many different programming languages and technologies to build robust applications.
My university course is a Level 6 in Software Engineering and has included many interesting modules that have improved my knowledge. I have learned about programming languages such as JavaScript and Java, Database administration (SQL), Software Development Lifecycles, Cloud based computing, Software Architecture, Software Best Practices and how to work in a team.
From the combination of 3Squared’s excellent apprenticeship program and Sheffield Hallam’s detailed academic studies, I can now confidently develop backend solutions, frontend solutions, cloud-based solutions, databases and understand architectural choices.
I have been a key member of multiple projects at 3Squared where I have been able to fix bugs, create features and even write suites of automated tests. I have owned certain areas of projects where I have been noticed as the expert.
Sadly, I am coming to the end of what has been an amazing experience as I am about to take my end point assessment. I could not recommend an apprenticeship at 3Squared enough. I would like to thank the 3Squared and its employees for what has been a masterclass experience, the amount of support I have had has been phenomenal and the drive to make employees happy is an experience like no other. Thank you.
If you would be interested in learning more about you could become an apprentice at 3Squared, get in touch with a member of our team today here.