One aspect of the 1E Graduate Training Scheme I love, is that we want to reflect the open and collaborative nature of working within 1E Engineering. We endeavour to expose the graduates to working with senior team members beyond their direct product team and mentor(s). This allows them see and hear ideas from a different perspective, to see that within Engineering there are no barriers to juniors and senior members interacting, and even challenging each other respectfully – truly reflecting our company values.
As the guys move towards the end of their first three months with 1E, I run a series of hands on sessions where I can assess their progress in an independent manner. These sessions are based on a hypothetical scenario around building a specific part of a HR application. We move through various phases from requirements analysis, elaborating on acceptance criteria, through to test cases design and identifying some defects.
What I really like about these sessions is their interactive nature – it’s all about talking through their ideas as well as mine. I really enjoy exploring the impacts of, and alternatives to, their proposals and ideas. We work through the pros and cons, discussing why some ideas and approaches are better than others.
From my point of view I can see how the training they've been given, and the skills they've developed, are being applied in practice. Is everyone engaging? Can they see patterns emerging? Do they grasp the pieces come together in terms of bigger picture thinking?
Hopefully the graduates get to feel their views are valid, that it’s an open forum, and showcase their progress. It’s really important to me that they enjoy the sessions and feel like they have gained something by participating.
What really struck me this time out was the maturity and confidence that the guys brought to the sessions. They really impressed. In fact, you can read about their progress from their own viewpoint with our Graduate Diary series.
Congrats on progress to date – and passing the not insignificant 3 month milestone.