Alumni story10 September 2026
“My journey started with an intensive six-week bootcamp at Ada, where I built a solid foundation in Java, core software development lifecycle principles, and Agile frameworks. This set me up perfectly to hit the ground running when I joined the team at Gamesys. Over the next two years, I balanced real-world development projects with coursework for my foundation degree.
By the time I completed my apprenticeship, I had gained such extensive technical knowledge and practical experience that Gamesys brought me on board directly as a mid-level developer. It effectively leapfrogged the junior level, giving my career a major head start compared to a traditional university path. From the moment I joined, I was included in technical discussions with engineers and architects. This gave me early exposure to software architecture principles and, just as importantly, an understanding of the reasoning behind different design decisions.
Learning in the workplace alongside my college studies allowed me to immediately apply what I was learning. One of the most impactful initiatives I worked on happened after attending a two-day Docker conference in Barcelona. After returning, I collaborated with my team to build a framework that enabled developers to run Dockerised builds within their CI/CD pipelines. This significantly simplified the build and deployment process, eliminating issues caused by version conflicts. It was a major improvement to our development workflow, and it’s rewarding to see containerised build processes become an industry standard today.
Over the following three years, I continued to take on greater responsibility, which led to Awin actively seeking me out for a Senior Software Engineer role. I’ve been in this position for four years now, making key architectural and technical decisions. Coming into the industry through an apprenticeship without a traditional Computer Science background has had a lasting impact on how I mentor others. I remember how valuable it was to have experienced engineers willing to explain concepts, regardless of how basic the question seemed. Because of that, I never assume what a junior engineer should or shouldn’t know. I encourage questions and aim to create an environment where people feel comfortable asking for help.
For employers who are on the fence about investing in an apprenticeship programme with Ada, I always say it is much more than a traditional education programme. Many of our lecturers were experienced industry professionals who brought real-world knowledge into the classroom. The combination of structured education and hands-on industry experience accelerates development far beyond what either could achieve independently, helping apprentices develop the communication, collaboration, and professional skills essential in a modern engineering environment.
Today, I regularly interview Junior Software Engineer candidates, many of whom have recently completed Computer Science degrees. Reflecting on those interviews has made me appreciate how valuable my experience was. The apprenticeship was a catapult for my career, accelerating it by several years. If I had to sum up my apprenticeship journey in just three words, it would be: Learn. Apply. Accelerate.”
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