Meet Oli Byrne

I am a Business Analyst Apprentice at Invotra and joined in September. I first decided I wanted to do a business analysis apprenticeship when I was able to get work experience for 2 weeks doing business analysis for the NHS on Covid cases. I thought the apprenticeship route was the best for me because I wanted to get into the workplace straight away whilst having the ability to learn and earn. It meant that I could get both real work experience and a qualification at the end. I believe that choosing this route will help me venture into my career at a faster rate as opposed to an alternative method such as uni.

I discovered Invotra when I was informed about them and their apprenticeship schemes through a careers advisor. After looking into the company, I realised how well they treated their apprentices, and how over 40% of their workforce are either current or previous apprentices, as well as how many awards they have been awarded due to their apprenticeships, and was instantly sold.

Since joining I have been thrown into the deep end and have helped review the developer documentation and ensure that it is up to date and easy to read, for the customers to follow and get their desired outcome. I am currently working on helping improve the product site section on 42, Invotra’s own intranet, by creating project scope documents and helping make business plans, as well as assisting in the design of the final look.

What I learned in my first few weeks is that Invotra is very supportive and welcoming from the start. Everyone is friendly and wants to see you succeed. Invotra likes to push you from the get go, and throw you into the deep end and out of your comfort zone, so you develop at a much faster rate. I also learned that I am more compatible with the way of learning that an apprenticeship provides. This is because you are able to put your theoretical knowledge into practice, which really helps when it comes to studying. As well as this, you have control over how you learn by choosing when you decide to study and how you decide to study, compared to alternative methods such as a university degree, where you have dedicated time slots for lectures and learning. What has really stood out to me since learning in the workplace is that everyone plays a vital role throughout a project and no one person can complete a project or task without the other, so it is vital to have good relations and teamwork in order to operate effectively and efficiently, which Invotra has.

My aim for the future is that I hope to complete my level 4 Business Analyst Apprenticeship and then go on to a degree apprenticeship with the hopes of furthering my knowledge and skills to provide a better service to Invotra, and eventually follow through Billy’s footsteps to becoming an MD by the age of 30.