I completed my studies last year, earning my degree and joined the 2023 autumn graduation ceremony. It was great to see people enjoy celebrating on the day!

The apprenticeship, has been a brilliant experience, allowing me to study theoretical concepts and learn how to apply them to real-life projects, as well as challenging me to learn in many ways.

If anyone is trying to advise family or friends about what options to explore for learning or training, I would recommend looking into apprenticeships.

I found it help build, and give space, for me to develop valuable skills including gaining experience from a variety of opportunities.

As part of my college studies, I’ve undertaken a variety of projects alongside work projects. I’ve created:

• infographics,
• dashboards,
• learnt object-orientated programming concepts using Java,
• used machine learning to undertake predictive work including processing 100,000 Airbnb properties to predict their rental cost,
• built simple databases,
• built graph networks for social media analysis,
• used big data tools such as PySpark,
• built a simple neural network and forecasted time series.

Through experimenting in how I approach these different projects I’ve been able to find how I work best, which has been invaluable!

Now that I’ve finished the apprenticeship, I’m keen to continue developing and learning. There are some resources and approaches I’ve found very useful to consider when looking to learn:

• The Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) training – some excellent training on soft skills to be more effective in work/tasks.
• LinkedIn learning – great resource for many topics, including technical and non-technical.
• Finding a good book on a topic – my go too approach, helped me learn key principles well and quickly for many topics.
• Work alongside someone else – seeing how someone else works through tasks has helped me identify more effective ways of working.

I’m very grateful for the support I have received from day 1 at Audit Wales. My team, the Data Analytics team, have always encouraged and supported and are some of the nicest people I’ve met! The team’s managers, Helen Goddard and Stephen Lisle, have been invaluable in providing me support and helping navigate any challenges.

Alongside my team, people throughout the organisation have helped me along the way, particularly Sian Grainger and Victoria Walters. Thank you all, whether directly or indirectly, for your help!

It means a lot to have supportive and friendly conversations, and to see the expertise and professionalism colleagues demonstrate.

Are you interested in an apprenticeship in Data Science, Finance or Business Administration?

Find out more about our Apprentice scheme and how to apply.