I chose to do an apprenticeship at the Scottish Parliament because it was a great opportunity to start a career in the world of IT. The Parliament offers great benefits to staff, but it was the prestige of working to support somewhere that could affect all the lives in Scotland that really appealed to me.
My role brings fun and interesting challenges every day and overcoming them brings a great sense of reward. Each gives the chance to expand my skills and knowledge in cutting edge software, as well as legacy technologies. The camaraderie of the staff in the Parliament is great and the environment here pushes you to succeed, but at the same time promoting a healthy work-life balance.
I’ve been involved in both minor and major projects, from revamping the old to bringing in the new. Right out of my apprenticeship I got involved in a project to replace old databases (some parliamentary systems were built years ago) with an up-to-date database. This was a rewarding way to flex my newly-learned skills from my apprenticeship. I recently got the chance to work on a project to deliver case management software to MSPs. This was a very different kind of challenge with a large focus on directly helping and fixing MSPs' issues with the software.
My apprenticeship has given me a great entry point into a career as a developer and trained me in the skills to play an important role here at Holyrood. My options and choices have been opened up by working at the Parliament and I hope to become a lead developer one day.