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Jurgen Rramani completed his apprenticeship in Information Technology (IT) at the Early Years Alliance. He started his career in October 2017 after joining an IT recruitment company.

Jurgen’s experience of being an IT apprentice

I chose to do an apprenticeship because I was interested in working with computers and wanted to gain some experience in an organisation that would support me with my first job in my IT career.

When I first began my current role as an IT apprentice I believed knew a lot about IT — how wrong was I?

My knowledge and skills were limited but throughout my work experience I gained a greater understanding about how to solve common IT problems. Now I know there are thousands, if not millions of things that can go wrong with a computer!

When supporting staff members of the Alliance I would come across frequent problems, for example, staff members who couldn’t log on into their computer. Although the problem may initially appear the same, the solutions to the problem can vary. After attempting to log on with the correct details I would check that there was an active connection with the domain. By then setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection this would resolve the issue.

I now know what it means to part of a team in a large organisation and to ask for help if I am unsure of what to do. I would like to say that I greatly appreciated my colleagues in the IT department who helped me.  As a member of this team I had a lot of fun and made great friends with them as we carried out our work responsibilities.

While working at the Alliance, I also had to study for my apprenticeship exams. To help me utilise my time more effectively I decided I would study whilst traveling on the train between work and home and also during my allocated personal study time.  At times it became more of a challenge to manage my work and study when revising for my final exams and being a first line technician. Despite this I passed my exam and felt proud of what I achieved.

I can happily say that during my 15 months of training and learning my ability to communicate with my colleagues has greatly improved. I now feel more confident when speaking to others and when offering them IT support.

Before I left the Alliance, I was able to meet the new staff members of the IT team. As an experienced member of the team I was able to introduce the IT systems to my new colleagues. I realised I am able to teach and show others what to do when people ask for some help with any IT problems.

I am very thankful for all the assessors and teachers that have supported and taught me, especially Everett Scott who was extremely helpful. He was always willing to make sure I learnt as much as possible during my training and studying weeks. 

Now that my apprenticeship is finished, I have secured a new job, a Junior IT Technician at a new company. The company is fast growing and I am keen to start learning and working through the next stage of my career.

Feedback

Other staff members at the Alliance noticed how Jurgen's confidence grew. Rob des Forges, IT Manger at the Alliance said: “Jurgen's IT skills have developed during his time at the Alliance as an apprentice. He has learnt how to support staff with a wide range of IT problems and how to communicate effectively to help others. He will always try to independently complete any task, but knows he can ask others for help. I wish him every success in his new job.”