bt swe apprenticeship

Hi is this for the Accenture Tech apprenticeship in London? I have my assessment centre coming up in Jan and I'm so nervous. Do you have any hints or tips?

And congrats on making it to the Technical interview!!

tbh i really didnt expect to get through to the next stage since i thought i did so bad in the AC activities. you cant really prepare for the specific activities they have but for the presentation make sure you practice it beforehand and have it flow properly.

have some scenarios prepared where you demonstrated certain skills as well like teamwork etc etc. standard interview Qs

there will be a ten challenges thing where youll be asked to do 10 challenges with a time limit. dont spend too long on one thing.

after each section theyll ask you something along the lines of "how would you change your approach if you could try again?". i think this saved me a bit cuz even if i messed up on one part, if i could say oh i would do this this and this, it shows a willingness to grow and learn etc.

you dont have to do everything perfectly, just be prepared to learn from mistakes and dont be afraid to speak up even if you think it might be wrong.
good luck!

Thank you so much this has helped alot. I've started preparing my tech proposal but I haven't received the challenge brief yet so I don't know know what I'm preparing for is even going to be worth it.

From what I've heard for the tech proposal is that you choose a technology and discuss about it using certain criterias and stuff is that it or is there like a brief I need to refer to?

They said they send the brief stuff the Friday before the AC but my AC is on a Monday Monday I won't have enough time time prepare if I don't start now

In the email that has your AC schedule it should tell you all the criteria needed for the presentation. It’s only three things:

A brief overview of your chosen technology
Your proposed applications of this technology in an industry of your choice
The commercial benefits of implementing this technology for businesses in your chosen industry


You won’t get a challenge brief or anything like that. the only things you need to prepare are the presentation and answers to typical interview questions

Has anyone applied for it yet or any other swe/developer apprenticeships?

Hi, I have
Just received an email saying I passed the video interview!
I've also applied to QinetiQ (which I saw mentioned), Capgemini, KPMG and a couple others

EDIT: I applied to most within the past 2 weeks since I actually had time to look around

Which location did you apply for for QinetiQ and how far in the process are you?

Malvern, I think its called
The software developer role

I literally submitted the application form a couple days ago so obviously haven't heard anything back yet as it was the holidays. I don't expect to hear back either if I'm being hinest as I applied to most of my choices extremely late. However saying that, I made it to the BT Interview stage and passed.

How long did it take you to go through each stage until you got the offer? (Congrats btw!)

Omg that’s the same location as me. I really hope they can take someone else on as well afaik I’m the only one😭😭

The entire process in total from online application to offer was about a month long. (Thanksss!)

Yeah I think the deadline to apply hasn't passed yet so I'm probably fine.
What's involved in the application process i.e. interview, assessment centre? I don't have a clue

There must be more people this late into the year but they probs dont have TSR.

They’ll tell you all about it when you get through but the AC is just a group exercise and solo activity (for me it was a reading comprehension thing).

After that is the interview which was a regular interview for the most part. Just know your CV inside out and have evidence to back up what you say. So like if you’ve written “oh I’m really good at teamwork” then be prepared to be asked “so how have you demonstrated teamwork?” Stuff like that. They seemed to like my projects that I put on there too so if you have any, try to mention them.

They also asked me two riddles which caught me off guard a bit but idk if they do that to everyone cuz the interviewer was like “so you said you liked problem solving, answer this then lol” so maybe I played myself a bit there. Even if you get it wrong, they really like you verbalising your ideas and thought processes.

The guy who gave me the offer said I was the only one in Malvern but I’m guessing since the application is still open they’re either taking on more or putting in reserves in case I don’t take the offer

Oh damn, compared to like every other application, this sounds the easiest lol

Tbh, it's not my top choice because I live like ~2 hours away via train but less with a car (~1 hour). If I get my own car next year, I might consider it if I get through but depends on what else I get offered. I have a strong feeling I won't take the offer tho as their focus seems to be cyber from what I can tell, but I wanna do regular Software Eng

Yeah if I take it I’m planning on moving. It’s technically commutable for me but I’m not the wake up at 6am type. Plus the salary is pretty good so it shouldn’t be too difficult moving out there, esp considering it’s not London. I’ve already been looking at places and it seems like the plan is to live in Worcester and commute but it’s too early for anything concrete.

A lot of the other ones have good salaries but are in London and I’m really not in the mood to be living on top of a corner shop with 45 strangers, sharing a toilet that doesn’t flush and a busted shower. My plan is to go into London after i finish whatever apprenticeship I end up doing since it’s such a good place for networking and it just seems like itd be fun once I get my money up.

It doesn’t seem too cybery imo after going through the process and asking questions but that’s just me. You’ll likely find out more as you go through the applications tho

What’s your top choice btw?

That's a lot of planning, fair play.

Yeah, I've apllied to London ones too (KPMG, Morgan Stanley and planning on Amazon). I I get through, I'm hoping to ask them about accommodation bursaries as some employers pay for your rent and bills which are the main costs tbh. I'm hoping that they do have some sort of support system, but then again, London is not a priority for me.

If I'm being honest, I'm still debating between uni and apprenticeships. For uni, my top choice is the PwC apprenticeship at UoB and insurance is Aston. For apprenticeships, stuck between BT, JLR, Capgemini amd potentially QinetiQ. But I am leaning more towards the apprenticeship route. I hope you see my dilemma here lol.

P.S. Haven't heard from any apprenitceship applications but BT as of now, and JLR applications open in January

Yeah that was me just a few weeks ago and still to this day tbh. The only thing that I think I’m missing out a bit on is the social side. But the money and experience offsets that for me. There’s always opportunities to meet people which is what I like to do anyway.

Now that I’ve got all my uni offers back and a DA offer I’m a lot calmer about things. I applied for the pwc one too at Leeds but withdrew cuz I don’t really get a good impression from the company and I lowkey cba to do the games assessment lmao.

I applied for cap too and I acc really like their scheme but the starting salary is a lot lower than Qins. I’ll just have to see how it goes.

It wouldn’t hurt to ask about those bursary things now or after the Christmas holidays when everyone is back to work. Not really any reason to wait and you can always send a follow up if they don’t reply.

Yeah, I'm not too fussed about being social tbh

I think if I get BT or QinetiQ, I'm more likely to go for one of them over capgem and Arup. Arup's course is way too tailored for themselves in terms of roles and stuff, doesn't leave many options to explore the role to its fullest. If I can solve my issue with commuting, QinetiQ is the one. (Is it pronounced 'Kinetic' or 'Kineti Q'? Don't wanna mess that up in an interview lol)

In terms of the bursaries, I really don't think its worth it personally. I just mentioned as it might help someone else. Personally I just don't want to live in London but I applied anyways and got decent feedback from the companies.

What is capgem's starting salary? I couldn't find it anywhere lol and am I right in thinking that QinetiQ's is £21,500?

It’s on the job description I think saying £22,000. It’s pronounced kinetic. They put Qs cuz they’re so quirky and unique ig idk lol

Well I hope you’re happy with whichever one you choose but I’d love it if there was another apprentice coming to QinetiQ. It would make the moving thing much easier cuz atm I’d either be living alone, with strangers or with graduates.

Are you not thinking of relocating?

Edit - QinetiQ’s salary is £22000. Caps salary starts at £16k ish after the boot camp thing

Relocating isn't really an option for me as I have an ill parent. It would have to be commuting.

Just had a conversation with my dad about this, and he's agreed to get a car for me because if I do end up getting QinetiQ, I would probably make back the cost of the car and insurance in 6 months lol. So now I can say as of now QinetiQ is my top option haha. Just gotta hope I get through.

Was your AC with other people? I'm just tryna get an idea of the competition, and if you don't mind what are your predicted grades?

Oh right that makes sense. I feel like we’re getting a bit off topic from the thread lol so I’ll answer all your questions elsewhere. Do you mind DMing me your snap or discord if you have one? If not we can use TSRs one

They’ll tell you all about it when you get through but the AC is just a group exercise and solo activity (for me it was a reading comprehension thing).

After that is the interview which was a regular interview for the most part. Just know your CV inside out and have evidence to back up what you say. So like if you’ve written “oh I’m really good at teamwork” then be prepared to be asked “so how have you demonstrated teamwork?” Stuff like that. They seemed to like my projects that I put on there too so if you have any, try to mention them.

Even if you get it wrong, they really like you verbalising your ideas and thought processes.