Tom Knowles was recently offered the role of Junior Software Developer at Blank IT, a company specialising in creating specialising in handset services, such as quality assurance, data erasure, configuration and warranty. Tom had recently completed his A-levels in computer science and was considering what his next steps would be. He had considered both university and apprenticeships and ultimately, decided on an apprenticeship. We chat with Tom to find out why and hear about his experience so far.

What is your background?

I recently completed my A-levels in Maths, Physics and Computer Science and was looking at ways to enter this industry. With everything that had occurred in the past couple of years, I decided that I would appreciate some more practical hands-on training as opposed to going to university and completing further theory. I find I learn better seeing things rather than just being told. I had applied to some apprenticeships however was not having too much success, I came across the offer on Indeed and had a phone call with Steph from Code Nation who explained the role in more detail and what would be expected from me. The enter recruitment process went extremely well, it was quite accelerated.

What advice would you give someone considering an apprentice instead of university?

I think that everyone learners differently and finds certain methods more effective than others. For myself, I can find myself getting bored quite easily if I am sitting in a classroom or lecture all day learning the theory. I would recommend an apprenticeship to someone like me mainly because it can make things feel like things are actually happening, you can make very fast progress and start to see all of that theory and knowledge applied to real projects. I also think it takes out the extra step of having to complete a university degree, then get the experience as you do both at the same time.

I also feel there are perks to apprenticeships, I think that apprenticeships are a very convenient and accessible way to enter the industry.

What advice would you give to someone getting started in coding?

First off, I want to say that I don’t consider myself to be a mathematical genius or fantastic problem solver and don’t think you need to be to get started. I have been programming for about 5 years or so and remember at first, being pretty confused by computers, not really understanding what they were doing or how they worked. As the years went on, my curiosity grew so I picked a computer science course at GCSE, having the support of a teacher really helped.

I think starting with a simple program and breaking it down line by line, looking at what is happening and where things are going is a great way to begin, doing things like writing outputs to the terminal.

When getting started, try to find a way to expose programming to yourself in a way that is not as scary. I had the help of a teacher but there are plenty of resources available that can really help.

Another thing I found useful was looking at different basic algorithms, such as searching and sorting and various data structures, these are used widely in the industry by all sorts of companies, look at simple algorithms that interest you and find some resources, videos or people that can walk you through what is actually happening.

If you are interested in getting started in Tech, have a look at our develop coding courses, these are short 3-week programs designed to introduce people to programming. You will use languages such as HTML, CSS and Python to build your own websites and applications.

If you already have some experience and are thinking about a career in tech, check out our Master Software courses and Apprenticeship opportunities today.