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Ross Keeley completed a software development apprenticeship programme at Sky
Why did you choose to do an apprenticeship at Sky?
Sky’s software development apprenticeship programme is nicely structured and provided a coding bootcamp to learn the foundations of software development while applying it to real world projects. It’s streamlined to prepare you from apprenticeship to an experienced developer role.
The choice to join Sky was an easy one. Being a household name and a globally recognised leader in the media and entertainment industry meant there would be a vast array of teams to join, areas to work in, and experienced colleagues to learn from and network with.
How did you find out about your apprenticeship?
I found Sky through a LinkedIn job search.
What does your role involve? What do you do on a day-to-day basis?
My role consists of working on assigned tasks for specific product features and writing code for it. Day-to-day, I review a backlog of tasks that have been prioritised for a two-week sprint. I meet with my team daily to report what I worked on, what I will work on for the day, and share any blockers. Afterwards, I work on my assigned tasks and collaborate with my peers to develop and test new features, improve existing ones, fix bugs, and review code worked on by others.
What’s the culture like at Sky? How are you supported?
The culture at Sky is very open, friendly, and opportunistic. I’m supported through my mentors, my apprenticeship programme where I gain real-world experience, and my teammates and peers, where we collaborate and bounce ideas together.
Adjusting to working life can be challenging, what challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
A challenge I faced initially was time management. I would get excited about solving a problem but realise that I had spent half my day on one thing. To avoid this from happening, I set a specific amount of time to troubleshoot, and if I don’t resolve it by then, I reach out for help and move on to the next task. This helps save time as it can be a silly small ty