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https://hodigital.blog.gov.uk/2022/02/07/do-you-want-to-be-a-tech-apprentice-were-hiring/

Do you want to be a tech apprentice? We’re hiring

An image of tech apprentices sitting together at a table with laptops open

Our Business Administrator Level 3 apprenticeships are now open. Apply here before 11 September 2023:

Business Administrator apprenticeships

In Home Office DDaT you could work on solutions to help people prove their identity or apply for visas or work on the critical IT systems that support policing and counter terrorism and help protect UK borders.

What attributes and attitudes are we looking for?

We’re recruiting people who really want to work with us. We look for potential candidates who are passionate and have the potential to do well.

You do not need related qualifications or previous experience.

As well as a passion for the role, you will need:

  • logical and creative thinking skills
  • analytical skills, with the ability to analyse and identify patterns in information, trends, emerging issues, data errors and anomalies
  • critical thinking and the ability to investigate, evaluate information and reach conclusions
  • problem solving skills
  • the ability to work independently and to take responsibility, be proactive and take the initiative, demonstrate perseverance, and aim to see things through
  • a thorough and organised approach, with attention to detail
  • a focus on self-development
  • the ability to work with a range of people
  • the ability to communicate effectively in a variety of situations

Pay, reward and training benefits

These roles come with an attractive pay and reward package and excellent pension. You will also receive generous training and development throughout the scheme along with coaching and mentoring opportunities.

What’s it like to be a tech apprentice at the Home Office? Read more to find out.

Jason Robinson: Digital, Data and Technology apprentice

Hi, my name is Jason and I’ve been working at Home Office DDaT as an apprentice for 1.5 years.

Jason Robinson, DDaT apprentice
Jason Robinson, Digital, Date and Technology apprentice

Before joining the Home Office I completed a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I had some short-term tech placements at Sparta Global and CV Cosmos where I built cloud infrastructure to server applications and developed front-end functionality for an online application.

The Home Office apprenticeship offers me the training and development to grow my confidence and strengthen my ability to produce valuable services.

I’ve had the opportunity to try out different areas of work, such as DevOps, Cyber Security and Project Management, to gain a wide range of tech skills and identify what I enjoy doing the most.

My day usually involves:                                                

  • operating ICT infrastructure – physical or virtual hardware, software, network services and data storage
  • using 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

Watch what some of our other DDaT apprentices have to say about their experiences on the programme:

Jason Pearson, Apprentice Placement Manager

An image of Jason Pearson, Apprentice Placement Manager
Jason Pearson, Apprentice Placement Manager

Apprentices bring innovative ideas and new ways of working to our teams and participate in developing new solutions unconstrained by preconceived ideas and previous practices.

By sharing their experiences, apprentices encourage existing team members to think differently, not only about the job they do but about what they want to achieve in the future.

Our apprentices are exposed to challenging and interesting projects. I'm currently managing two Data Analyst apprentices who are are responsible for a broad range of work including:

  • taking monitoring data and processing it to create retrospectives on performance
  • using monitoring data to extrapolate and predict trends that will have an impact on system performance at a national level and capacity requirements
  • ensuring new services are designed for optimum data availability
  • leading on projects to overhaul our databases and upgrade them to Microsoft SQL
  • introducing new statistical analysis applications and data consolidation to see if we can use existing data to predict capacity and performance trends
  • identifying if there are any indicators in the data sets that would point to a potential service affecting incident so that we can proactively address and avoid them

Our Business Administrator Level 3 apprenticeships are open now. Apply here for:

Business Administrator apprenticeships

Read more about working at the Home Office at the Home Office Careers site.

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