Technology
“Our apprentices are fully-immersed at university for those first few weeks and get to enjoy student life, while they develop their technical skills,” says Perkins. “It’s something that few other degree apprenticeships offer, and we work really hard
employers in the UK to offer degree apprenticeships. The company now recruits over 75 apprentices each year for a range of programmes, including its digital & technology solutions degree apprenticeship and chartered manager degree apprenticeship programmes. “We have lots of different apprenticeships, but the digital &
to make sure all our degree apprentices get to know each
Over a third of our latest cohort of degree apprentices were awarded a first-class degree
other, so that they have friends and support when they then start work at the company.” As well as giving apprentices a more typical university experience at the start of their degree apprenticeship, this intensive
technology degree apprenticeship we run with Sheffield Hallam University is one of our flagship programmes,” says Michelle Perkins, head of talent attraction at Capgemini. Unusually, the apprenticeship
period of study means it takes around three years to complete the programme, rather than the normal four and half years for similar apprenticeships at other employers.
begins with a 12-week ‘boot camp’ on-campus at the university, with apprentices joining in time for ‘freshers week’ and staying in halls with other first- year students.
a place on three different programmes. I chose IBM because their apprenticeship included placements in several areas of the business, which would help me find out which parts of tech I’d enjoy and be good at. I joined IBM in London in September 2022 and started in data analytics. Those first few I ended up applying for degree apprenticeships at around 25 different employers weeks were pretty exhausting, getting used to the 9 to 5 working days, and I remember I slept a lot over the weekend. It’s a big change from sixth form and there’s no-one to hold your hand or give you a timetable. But we had a great induction and once I’d met the other apprentices, it made things a lot easier and we could support each other. Data analytics is where I learnt the foundation of IBM consulting
but growing up in south London things weren’t great financially and going to university and picking up more debt didn’t seem like a good option. That’s when I found out about degree apprenticeships. Getting paid a salary and not having to pay university fees was a no-brainer for me. And knowing that I could get the same degree qualification as going to university for a normal degree was a huge plus. It meant my parents wouldn’t be mad at me for not going to university. There are so many degree apprenticeships in the tech space but I knew I wanted to work somewhere where I could move around and try different things. I ended up applying to around 25 different employers. It wasn’t easy because of the time it took to research each company, prepare the individual applications and then submit them before the various deadlines. I had a lot of rejections but got through to the final round assessment centres for 5 or 6 employers and was offered
Degree Apprentice
Nathan John Digital & Technology Solutions Degree Apprentice IBM
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I’d always loved gaming and finding out about new technologies when I was at school, and thought working in tech could be a good career choice for me. I did maths, business and computer science for my A-levels,
66 Degree Apprenticeships
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