Dev Apprenticeship Ultimate QA (by ex IBM apprentice)

if you pull a short stick and then get
something that you don't like
you might have to stick with it until
you can transfer or something like that
and normally they ask you to wait
a couple years before you transfer
and uh yeah that that is something to
think about
and that's i mean i have to say that off
the record
even though i mean it's gonna be on the
record it's gonna be in the video
but that's definitely not something ibm
is going to tell you
disclaimer i do not represent ibm and
any anything i say in this video
anything we talk about on this video
does not represent
ibm in any way all right
yeah my name is rowan basco
yeah and uh rowan is gonna be a future
apprentice
at uh ibm is that correct yes
and he's had a few questions for me and
i've been getting some people asking me
questions like this too and i haven't
had time to
answer them so i thought maybe i could
knock out two birds with one stone
and make some content while you know
helping the community out of it but
without answering their apprenticeship
questions so
uh yeah rowan uh you want to start off
with a question for me
uh yes so i guess my first question
would be
um so for the apprenticeship
um what was the training portion like
like what was the day-to-day
um i guess schedule of the training
portion
okay so uh what a kind of apprenticeship
are you entering
uh so right now i'm in the application
developer apprenticeship
okay so that's the same one i was in and
um
so they say my uh my job description was
that we got a year
to complete the training and then um
you know move on to the next role
potentially
and what that meant was so day to day we
go in and comp
and look we look at these modules and we
try to complete them
you know as fast as possible pretty much
and uh
you don't you're not like rushed or
anything no one's like looking over your
shoulder
like they're not micromanaging you you
know they're relaxed with us and
really understanding some people you
know learn faster some people
didn't have a technical background so
they took a little bit longer
and they take all that into account so
does that answer your question or do you
want to like know more like more
technical like
what you'll be learning um yes
but also so when you say that pretty
much you're completing modules is that
more of like
so pretty much you're doing it at more
of a self-paced type
rate or do they have like any type of
structure you know how sometimes you
know they want to do like a morning
stand up
and then after they'll be like okay you
know you guys can go complete your
modules and then we'll meet back at this
time
and then so forth that's a good question
so um we did have sorry about that my
daughter's screaming in the back now
but yeah so we did have daily stand up
so they they taught you go through
extra classes depending on who your
manager is and stuff like that
so we had to take scrum classes so you'd
learn like um
agile development and stuff in those
classes too
and to practice that we have a stand-up
meeting every morning we would take
turns being scrum master
and that gave you some good experience
just um about how like the the day the
day goes
like in your job after you finish the
apprenticeship
and so once that's done like you know
you'll tell them what blockers you have
what um what you're working on today we
worked on the day before
and that way they can facilitate you if
you need some help or something like
that too
okay so as far as the i'm glad you
brought the help
um i know they spoke about uh each
i guess people having mentors um so as
far as the mentors
how often do you usually get i guess
feedback or
um guidance from your mentors during the
apprenticeship
so we we had a really active mentor and
she actually uh helped all of us at once
we had
she was had like 15 people and she
really went above and beyond
we had another group of apprentices in
the same building that had
a mentor per every like two people or
something like that
and you know it
they're not really going to be the ones
always helping you directly maybe
they need to you need some help and they
can find the correct resource to help
you
with whatever problem that you're having
let's say you're having a problem making
uh in the javascript module for example
where you're doing like web development
then she'll help you that person will
help you find
a resource or somebody to help you in
that area
okay that sounds good um i guess now we
can talk about mostly the training
um part so what exactly do they have
i guess apprentices learning is there
like and also is there like a certain um
i guess order they have you starting at
like do they have you starting at
this one technology then moving to kind
of a
ordered place or is it kind of like you
just kind of just have to learn all this
and you kind of pick where you want to
start
so that pretty lacks with where you want
to start
um so basically
you start off with the fundamentals of
computer science
because a lot of people have no
technical experience going into these
apprenticeships
so for example we started off with cs50
and that's a really good basic
fundamental uh course
taught by the harvard professors like
david malen or something like i think
that's his last name
but yeah it's a great course
and also they teach you there's like
some courses on like a
basic corporate uh i don't i wouldn't
say lifestyle but corporate
rules and no business at guidelines and
things like that
so that you also fit in on the on that
side so you can
it'll help you fit in with the culture
of the company too
so like for example i came from a
restaurant so i didn't have much
corporate experience so you don't know
how to navigate
um like emails and stuff like that just
things that normal people in the
corporate world deal with day-to-day
yes so and uh so for example i said you
start off with cs50
but you if you want to you can skip to a
module down the line
and it doesn't really matter what uh
like how you take it chronologically
you can move on to the web development
module or you can move on to the
database
administration module or like the
networking module
there's like a bunch of different they
split it up into a bunch of different
categories
that uh you know just try to piece
together all of
application development okay there's
like um
continuous integration and development
too this
so you get a really good chunk of
everything
and they try to get you to learn
multiple languages too
uh what languages do they usually i
guess focus on
so i don't i wouldn't say there's a main
focus
because we went through c we went
through python javascript
java
i think those are the main ones and
optionally there's like a
another module that either nine
languages and nine weeks or something
and i personally didn't do that one
because i just wanted to finish the
apprenticeship as soon as possible and
get
to like the job yeah
okay so is so is it i guess
since the training i guess the training
part is more self-paced
you start the actual work i guess
depending on how fast you
actually finish the training portion
yeah
so i for example i finished in eight
months
so i was able to get on a project and
start being
like producing actual work for clients
and things like that
okay at that mark at that mark okay and
um so do you feel like i guess ibm you
know gave you guys enough support during
like the training and stuff
i guess for you to feel like you were
able to succeed
to go to the next level oh yeah i think
so and they really support you no matter
like what your ambitions are too like
for example i wanted to be technical
so you know i started doing development
and stuff like that where some people
wanted to be managers
so they supported them in those with
those ambitions too
okay and i know that i will be in a
cohort of other folks
so i guess as far as that part um how
often do you really get to
talk to your other cohort mates um
do you guys like mostly work in
individually
in groups or is it kind of like
everyone's personal preference
so it's really personal preference and
it's gonna be different for you because
you're gonna be starting out remote
and i started out in the office which i
personally like remote but
i think for the apprenticeship it's
really nice to have that camaraderie
with the the apprentice other
apprentices even though like i didn't
really interact with them that much
yeah like we all sat on one row so we're
sitting next to each other all day
all day sorry all day
and it's just up to you whether you'd
like to
you know talk to your neighbors or you
like to you know ask for group
collaboration
stuff like that but yeah a lot of the
projects
depending on your manager will require
you to make your own
like code and just your your own entire
project in itself
so sometimes you can't really
collaborate very much
and it just depends on what your your
manager wants you to create
okay that sounds sounds good
so you go through the training portion
you go through the modules
then you get to um so after you finish
the training portion how long do they
usually have before they actually
um is it like immediately they start
match you over uh or assigning you to
clients or
um is there usually like a buffer time
for like okay
just wait for a bit we'll find you i
guess something to assign you to
and then you'll start your actual work
so i think it depends on the kind of
training you accept during the
apprenticeship because during the
apprenticeship
you might be approached by other people
within the company with different
types of training that will help you
land clients as well
so for example in my case um they wanted
people to join
this data team for it's a
for sap which i would be working with
analyzing data
migrating data and stuff like that so
they taught me x like in addition to
the apprenticeship uh training stuff i
had that stuff too
and since no one else really wanted to
do that stuff like
like the way i thought about it was if
no one wants to do it but they want
people to learn it that must mean that
there's demand
in that area right and i wanted to
increase my chances of getting on a
client as soon as possible
because that means you're billable you
get you're you know bringing
value to the company and so
you know i learned that stuff and was
able to get on a client right away
some people you know take a little bit
longer and it's
it seems like it's uh their
understanding of that too
because you know you want to do
something that you want to do
versus something you have to do and
that's you just have to balance that act
i guess
okay um so i guess my next question
would be
as far as the clients um are you usually
just working with one client during the
apprenticeship
or is there probably a possibility that
you could be working with multiple
clients
so during the apprenticeship there's no
no clients okay
you're just uh working for ibm because
the way it
happened what happens after is that
you're basically a consultant
and they uh ibm will
kind of have their feelers out they'll
find a client that is in need of someone
with your skill set
and match you up and then you'll work
with them
for however long their project lasts and
then once it's done
you know you're back at ibm and
they start the process all over again so
for example i've been on two projects
since my for my stay at ibm and
it's yeah it was pretty seamless the
whole time
okay um so do you feel like
as like as far as the working portion um
i guess did you learn a little bit more
than
you did in the training portion like did
you pick up any
extra skills on top of what you already
got trained on during the training
portion
when you actually started i guess
getting your hands in the dirt
oh yeah for sure because whenever you're
learning all the fundamentals and the
basics
it's not like really i mean you can use
that stuff
in real life but on your projects for
example my project
it was sap but i did do a full stack
javascript development
on top of an sap server so i i used the
web development stuff but i also had to
learn a lot about the sap environment
okay and uh so i was
it helped prepare me for that because
you know once you understand the
fundamentals you can
break down how for example sap a big
enterprise
software works
okay and as far as like the entire
apprenticeship
usually at what point do they start um
i guess what at what point would
apprentices know if they are
going to get an offer for a full-time
permanent role
okay so that was okay so in my
apprenticeship i was the first cohort
and i was with the first cohort at my
center
and that was like hotly debated right i
was
under the impression that it wasn't 100
guaranteed that you're gonna get offered
and that turned out to be true it's not
100 guaranteed
but with us it was like 99 of people
went through it was only if you kind of
really really didn't mesh with the
company
and did not want to complete your
modules
that you know you didn't get through
anything else that i probably didn't ask
that you know you feel would be
um helpful or useful to people like me
who are just about to begin the
apprenticeship
um and stuff all right i think it's just
that every there needs to be more
visibility and
if you think you know someone that you
know doesn't like their current job they
should you should
share this video maybe and shed some
light on the apprenticeship
that is like there's a bunch of
apprenticeships popping up in america
right now
and you should really consider joining
it if you don't like your current job
because it's really life-changing and
it's you know being able to work
in tech and work with something that
actually
feels you know satisf like mentally
satisfying every day
is just incredible uh so you don't have
any more questions
don't want to put you on the spot but i
think so um
as far as like pay and stuff i've
already
pretty much got the answers as far as
pay goes
um i think that's mostly
it oh i do have one for you yes
all right so for anyone who's you know
who doesn't
who's like doubting maybe the weight of
the name of ibm
ibm still carries a lot of weight in the
industry i think
and for example if you work in ibm
it's it's gonna help you resonate a lot
and i'm just going to drop the news here
i'm actually i actually put my two weeks
in last week and
i'm moving on to the next step of my
career
and that's just an example like there's
been a few other people in my cohort too
that have
been able to do the same thing so
especially if you don't have a college
degree
having an apprenticeship under your belt
that's approved by the
department of labor as well is a great
way to start your career
and uh yeah do you want to stay at ibm
that's up to you they're a great company
too
but it just really opens the doors to
you
that's good to hear all right man
all right good luck with your
apprenticeship rowan
thank you thank you um i definitely
think that was also
something um i know reading online that
some people were concerned about as far
as um
the weight of the actual company name on
their resume
um versus i guess what some people would
consider
the larger or famed companies um
but you know it's good to know
all right um other than that house baton
rouge
oh baton rouge i've lived here for like
10 years
yeah over 10 12 years actually and it's
a
it's okay it's not the best city in the
world
but it's it's got enough of everything
it's like it feels kind of like a
small like a small houston or something
maybe not
i'm not gonna go that far it's just it's
okay right
okay it's not the worst out there cost
of living is low
so but you know getting paid
whatever you get paid is going to be
enough and then any raises from there
it's going to be like just a
bonus okay um
this oh the food scene is getting better
uh i can't really say much more about
baton rouge
it sounds cool um hopefully one day in
the future i guess when they start
opening up you know get to see it in
person
yeah man where are you gonna be working
from
uh so uh for right now i'm gonna be
working from from maryland
okay and do they have any hard date for
you to actually come to baton rouge
no they uh so i've been told they
have not the slightest clue right now
when they're going to be doing um the
in-person
or opening back up which actually isn't
really too much of an issue for me
because you know i have to make the move
you know and stuff if i have to do most
of the remote i'm cool with that i mean
if i had to do all the remote i mean i
guess i'll be cool with that too but
um i guess we'll we'll see as we cross
those bridges
um so how different was the full-time
role
versus i guess the least the working
part of the apprenticeship
in the apprenticeship there's no working
part you're just studying the whole time
okay and you're studying and completing
projects based on
what your manager comes up with so
it's completely different okay you just
you just
what you're doing in the apprenticeship
is you're built you're
gaining the tools that you need to
do on the job so i'm not sure what
area of the company you're going to be
in if you're in like an
enterprise work or if you're in uh
say like a cloud division or like
ai division or something it really
depends on where you've been
you know put into and that's kind of the
luck of the draw
okay so usually are do you usually let
them know
what areas you're interested in and they
kind of somewhat take that into account
but you know
nothing's guaranteed but they kind of
say you know what depending on your
your work ethic and what we see from you
we might consider you for
this i guess department whether it's ai
or cloud or whether just because you
know you're interested in you have
shown and proven that you are a
a valuable commodity or something like
that
uh so that was
kind of an issue too because not really
you can i kind of manipulated my way
into being able to do what i wanted
in in within the enterprise system
but most people um
you're kind of whatever you're recruited
into is what you're gonna have what
you're gonna have to work on pretty much
okay so if you're
if you pull a short stick and then get
something that you don't like
you might have to stick with it until
you can transfer or something like that
and normally they ask you to wait
a couple years before you transfer
okay and uh yeah
that is something to think about and
that's i mean i have to say that off the
record even though i mean it's gonna be
on the record
yeah it's gonna be in the video but
that's definitely not something ibm's
gonna tell you
and and it's also not getting like
that's not 100
always going to be like that i'm not i'm
just saying that based on my experience
what i
observed right okay
sounds good um i don't think i have much
of anything else
you know thank you for taking this time
and answering my questions and bringing
more
um clarity to um i guess what the next
step for me and others will be
hey man well uh this is rowan it's gonna
be uh do you have any final words to say
to everybody um so
everybody um you guys watch the video
um you've had if you had any questions
maybe that i didn't ask you know you got
to
you got the man right here to answer
them for you so you know
go for it ask those questions um it's
your life it's your career
um so get the insights you need and keep
moving forward
all right guys this is uh this is
x ibm code phony out peace