Meet Ella! Ella is a Digital and Technology Solutions Degree Apprentice who has just finished her second year of the programme. Ella works at Babcock’s Bristol site.
Our Marine, defence business, based in Bristol, forms a critical part of Babcock’s Marine organisation. Working across a range of exciting design, manufacture and support projects, our 1500 strong team operate from a number of sites across the UK and internationally, ensuring our global portfolio is always supported.
Babcock operates as four main business areas, aerospace, land, marine and nuclear. Ella works within the Marine area, specifically in Mission Systems.
You can read below why Ella decided to join Babcock. You can also learn more about what her day to day looks like, her favourite parts of the job and also challenges that she has encountered along the way.
My apprenticeship trade, why I chose it and why I chose Babcock:
I am studying data analysis and visualization. My apprenticeship splits off into two different schemes – Data Analysis and Software Engineering - and as I have always taken an interest in maths, and am very logical, I went for data. I had planned to follow the traditional route through university, but I hadn’t yet found a subject that I felt passionate about, so I started applying for and researching different apprenticeship courses. Once I found this course, I knew immediately that it was the one for me.
My typical day:
My typical day currently consists of a daily meeting with my team to discuss the previous day and important tasks coming up within our workload. We also use this time to iron out any issues people may be having and confer on opportunities for collaboration. Within my role, I am able to work on a diverse range of projects, from HR to supply chain to health and safety. On a typical day I may have different meetings with stakeholders and customers, to update on project progress, refine requirements and demo finished dashboards. I’m also a member of multiple STEM/apprentice related networks, so these commitments require me to spend time researching STEM events and attending apprentice ambassador meetings. However, the bulk of my time is spent working on data related projects, refreshing reports, and developing dashboards.
My favourite part of the job:
I think the best part of my job is the people I get to work with. I’m fortunate enough to be able to collaborate and share ideas with extremely talented, hardworking, and dedicated people, which is so inspiring to someone as early in their career as I am.
Most challenging thing I’ve ever done to date:
One of the most challenging parts of the course so far was completing my second year of university whilst working full time. I had course work, exams, and deadlines week after week, whilst at the same time maintaining a high standard in my day-to-day projects and professional workload. However, a combination of organisation and time management made sure I kept up both standards of work and met all deadlines.
