Meet Robert Buckley

For context, I’m 22 and previously the creator of a successful social-media account, as well as a former employee of Sainsbury’s for over two-and-a-half years (mostly during the pandemic). I started at Invotra in late July 2022, joining as a Junior Developer Apprentice. I found the position online and felt that it aligned extremely well with the JavaScript-focused web development I was already interested in.

I was searching for an apprenticeship because I was keen to turn my programming hobby into my work. Invotra appeared to be the right place to do this, and that is very much proving to be true. 

Given my lack of experience, it was a step into the unknown, but it has proven to be a great step up. It’s an open and friendly organisation, with a clear focus on culture and inclusivity. People are nurtured, and it was immediately impressive to me that many people choose to stay with the company years after their apprenticeships.

So far, I’ve been working as part of the QA team to help test the product, which has primarily involved performing manual smoke-tests and testing dependency upgrades. I’ve studied an automated testing framework called Cypress, and contributed some automated tests into our codebase. I’ve additionally been able to fix some small bugs, with my fixes being peer-reviewed and merged into the product, which has been satisfying given how new I am.

Overall my experience has been really good. Even though I’m an apprentice, I’m still included and able to take part in the same way as non-apprentices. I’m working towards a qualification, but I’m also very much working for the company and feel a part of the team. It’s clear that this will be a great supporting force in my journey to complete my apprenticeship and develop my career as a software developer. I look forward to learning more as I strive to improve my future.