What is it like to be a Level 3 Software Development Technician?

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Thinking of becoming a Software Developer but don’t know what the job entails? Working in the Software industry is an extremely rewarding pathway, with many career progression opportunities and options for hybrid work, which is becoming increasingly important to candidates.

Software Development roles are in high demand, meaning not only is there many jobs in this sector being created, but this role also offers a high starting salary – and the more experience you have, the more your salary will increase!

Talent have identified that Level 3 Software Development apprentices have an average salary of £24,857 and the Code Institute has stated that in the UK experienced Software Developers, can make up to £68,000. There has never been a better time to become a Software expert!

WHAT IS A SOFTWARE DEVELOPER?

If you aren’t familiar with this sector you are probably wondering, what does a Software Developer actually do?

Software isn’t just codes, Software Developers are the creative, brainstorming masterminds behind video games, apps, and computer programs of all sorts. Ultimately individuals in these job roles will analyse users’ needs and then design and build underlying systems and develop software to meet those needs, then maintain and support systems once they’re up and running.

Below we have broken down what a typical day as a Level 3 Software Development Technician can look like with help from Daniel Borg who is a Apprentice Software Developer with WubbleYou, so you can get a sense of the duties within this role!

9AM TO 12PM

As a Software Developer your role could be home based, in the office, or a mixture of the two. Your day may start by checking your assigned tasks for the week ahead then spend some time responding to any urgent emails that need dealing with.

Every morning you would have a stand-up meeting of 10-15 minutes with the development team to discuss what you’ve achieved, client requirements (such as details and feedback), and anything blocking you from completing tasks, for example any issues or broken systems. Then you will likely give an overview of progress to your manager and get to know what they are focusing on that particular day in case you need to reach out to them for any help.

Up until lunch, you may continue working on the “sprint” from the following week, which can be viewed in Jira, a project management tool used to track a team’s tasks.

“Sprints” are the idea that rather than working on a large project in a single run, the project is broken down into two-week sprints. Everyone on the development team will take a task suited to them (assigned by their manager/supervisor) that will contribute to the larger task at hand.

1PM TO 3PM

After lunch, provided that you don’t have any meetings through the day you would work through more of your assigned tasks which could range from bug fixes to implementing new features, depending on the client and the difficulty of the project. If you come into any problems that you can’t overcome and could lead to the sprint running over, you should reach out to your Lead Developer via an instant messaging tool like Slack.

As a Software Developer apprentice, it is likely you will spend part of your working days researching and learning. This could entail researching new coding languages that you have not used before, or you could complete free courses on Codeacademy to expand your knowledge!

The next hour could include client meetings, where you would present work that has been completed and receive feedback. This can be done via email if it is urgently needed, but it would be more effective over a Microsoft Teams meeting to ensure there is no confusion.

3PM TO 5PM

Following your well-deserved tea or coffee break, you might spend the rest of your working day focusing on your apprenticeship. As a Level 3 Software Development Technician apprentice, you should make sure you dedicate some time during your day to complete your apprenticeship tasks. During this time, you could work on projects your coach has set you or provide evidence of your workplace tasks in your time log.

FIND OUT MORE

Interested in kickstarting your career? Get started now… Check out our Level 3 Junior Software Developer Apprenticeship and our Level 4 Software Development Apprenticeship.

Alternatively, get in touch with our friendly team to learn more about Apprenticeships and how they can give you on-the-job industry experience.