National Apprenticeship Week: Vodafone employees share their experiences

Tell us a bit about your Vodafone apprenticeship journey. What were you doing prior? Why did you apply to Vodafone?

Lexi: I applied for a few apprenticeships after college, but Vodafone was the main one, because I knew it offered a full degree. I’d read about the culture on Glassdoor too, and heard from people who worked there, which made me realise it was the type of place that I wanted to work at.

Leome: I used to work in Payroll and HR following my first degree in Accounting and Finance. I also played basketball semi-professionally. After I won a TV gameshow in 2020, however, I decided I wanted to change career to something I was passionate about, which was technology. So, after applying, I went from simply being a loyal Vodafone customer to becoming a Vodafone apprentice instead.

Felicity: I came straight onto the Vodafone apprenticeship after doing my A-levels. I had already applied for five universities and hadn’t really thought about degree apprenticeships until I found out about Vodafone.

What area do you now work in at Vodafone?

Lexi: I did the degree for three-and-a-half years, working as a project manager throughout on technology operations projects. I’m a programme manager now, having worked on consumer projects such as eSIM, Home Broadband and, more recently, always-on marketing.

Leome: Having completed my digital solutions , I now work with our UK Mobile Data Core team as a Network Operations Specialist. In this role, I help keep our consumer and business customers connected to Vodafone’s award-winning services while at home or roaming overseas.

Felicity: I’m doing software engineering, mostly working on the My Vodafone app. Recently, I’ve also worked on a few features around Black Friday; for example, helping customers to buy phones natively within the app, as well as working on bug fixes and UI implementations.

What did you enjoy most about your apprenticeship? What was the most surprising part?

Lexi: What I really enjoyed was that it gave you the opportunity to do quite a lot of extra-curricular things. For instance, we’ve gone to careers fairs to promote the schemes and it’s really nice to be able to talk about how much I enjoyed the apprenticeship. I’ve even started mentoring two apprentices.

Also, being able to get paid for a degree for three years – and come away with no debt – is incredible.

Leome: ‘Grow’* is one of the most underrated assets in our business. The ability to learn everything you need on a day-to-day basis is amazing. It helps you build a comprehensive understanding of a lot of the things we’re looking after and providing to our customers.

Another positive surprise was our Newbury HQ, which feels like a campus in itself. This and the proud, helpful team of experts we have across the country. There’s never a day where I’m not learning something new to help with the job at hand.

Felicity: Just being able to do Android development is great, as I hadn’t done that before. I’ve also enjoyed travelling to the Stoke office to learn more about customers by listening to real customer phone calls.

I’d say the most unexpected thing about the apprenticeship was how genuinely friendly and invested everyone is in your progression and learning.

What additional support would you like to see given to apprentices?

Lexi: I think it would be good if universities considered apprentices as closer to full-time university students. Since you’re not on campus every day, I think more inclusion from the university side would give you more of an authentic experience.

From a Vodafone perspective, though, I think they’ve nailed the support model; you get buddied up with people, you get a mentor, and you have a from someone within your department.

Leome: I’d say services for those who may feel isolated while on an apprenticeship, particularly remote or young distance learners.

The transition must be difficult for those coming from a social and educational environment with friends, who are probably going to full time university, while they’re released into the corporate wild straightaway. We must continue to do everything possible to ensure we support their smooth transition into the industry.

Felicity: I personally think apprenticeships need to be talked about in schools as much as university courses are. In terms of Vodafone, I can’t really fault how they’ve treated apprenticeships as a whole.

What advice would you give to current or future apprentices?

Lexi: Take advantage of being an apprentice and the opportunities it provides. Get involved in anything you can and say ‘yes’ to anything extracurricular you are offered, including networking.

I don’t think I would have had as many promotions as I have if I didn’t do an apprenticeship, because it allowed me to build up my network so much.

Leome: I think the UK pass rate for apprentices is around 55%, so that’s a huge indicator that a lot of people feel the difficulties. My advice would be to remain resilient and to not give up or doubt yourself.

They say ‘there is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growing zone’, so: be kind to yourself; expect the Imposter Syndrome that often comes with learning something new; and enjoy the journey as you go.

Felicity: I would say to just take your time, and don’t expect to learn everything all at once. Just settle down, give it months – or years even – because you’re always learning.

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* Vodafone’s self-learning online resource for employees.