Digital, Data and Technology Apprenticeships in the Home Office: Jason’s Story

Hi there, my name is Jason and I’ve been working at the Home Office as an apprentice for 1.5 years. You may have seen our post about Early Talent Week which includes a list of the opportunities currently on offer. I want to let you know a bit about how I came to join the Home Office and what it’s like to work here as a young person starting their career.

Before joining the Home Office I completed a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a few short-term tech placements. I worked at Sparta Global and CV Cosmos, for example, where I successfully built cloud infrastructure to server applications and developed front end functionality for an online application. With this experience, I decided to apply for an apprenticeship at the Home Office to sharpen my skills and knowledge in IT. I wanted to receive the training and development offered by the programme to grow confident in the DDaT field and strengthen my ability to produce valuable services. The programme also gave me the chance to try out different areas of work and identify what I enjoyed doing the most.

I am really enjoying the apprenticeship so far. My day to day varies depending on which projects I’m working on, but it usually involves: ??????????????????????

• Efficiently operating ICT infrastructure – physical or virtual hardware, software, network services and data storage.
• Utilising infrastructure management tools to automate the provisioning, testing, deployment and monitoring of infrastructure components.
• Prioritising systems support tasks and monitoring and maintaining system performance.
• Working closely with my team and others such as the Service Desk, Incident Managers, Project Managers, Service Transition, external suppliers and the Cyber-Security Operations Centre (CSOC) to ensure services are monitored effectively and any incidents are addressed.
• Automating manual processes and maintaining IT infrastructure.

What I enjoy most about being an apprentice is the opportunity to investigate complex problems. I also enjoy receiving feedback from users; it reassures me that I am making a difference.

There are many benefits to working at the Home Office as an apprentice. These include the support provided to achieve your objectives, the experience you build and also one day a week dedicated to self-learning and development. I particularly value the chance to explore different areas of work and to identify the activities I enjoy the most before I apply for a permanent role at the Home Office. I’ve been able to engage in many different areas such as DevOps, CSOC and Project Management. I grew from having limited knowledge in IT before the apprenticeship to gaining a wide range of skills in the tech field.

I’m hoping to further my career in this field and continue learning. I also plan to progress in the Home Office so that I continue contributing to meaningful work that changes people’s lives.

If you’re considering applying for an apprenticeship at the Home Office, I’d say go for it! It is a great foundation to develop into the person you want to become in 10 years.