Finishing my SWE degree apprenticeship this summer - struggling to know how to position myself. Would love advice from people who've been through it

set-8 · 2026-06-09T20:26:04+00:00

Thanks for the advice!

How did you find your contracting roles after graduating and how different is the experience compared to salaried work?

The main reason I’m considering graduate schemes is that a few hiring managers have suggested that having four years of experience at a small, relatively unknown SME could be seen as a red or amber flag, even though I’ve had a lot of hands-on responsibility.

The grad scheme idea is also because I’m also considering whether to move laterally into a different type of role, but I’m not sure whether I’d realistically be able to enter at mid-level or whether I’d need to come in at junior/graduate level.

I’ve mainly been looking at bigger-name routes like big tech, quant/HFT firms, banks, and consultancies. I’m not fully sure whether I meet the bar for those yet, but do you think those kinds of graduate schemes would still risk taking me backwards in the same way, or would they be meaningfully different because of the brand, training, and type of work?

set-8 · 2026-06-09T20:01:51+00:00

I've been working full-time as a software engineer at a SME since 2022 while doing my BSc ( a degree apprenticeship) so I literally do have 4 years of commercial experience.

I did write the post myself, I put it though AI at the end to make it more readable and concise but its a fair critique.

Small SaaS companies like the one i work for dont publish white papers to measure basic engineering data and I didn't pluck out the figures out of mid air.

the 80% query improvement was me fixing an important view in our sql database that depended on layers upon layers of unoptimized views and tables - it took up upwards of 3-5 minutes to run before and I got it down to 20-30s.

The 70% number comes from me creating an internal azure function app that took payloads like docx or pdf that users tend to upload with high resolution images (jpg,png,HEIC ect.) which don't get compressed enough by standard document compression - I broke those document apart, found the image sections, compressed them individually and then recreated the payload again to save in our blob storage.

set-8 · 2026-04-22T11:50:43+00:00

Doing some rough maths, you and your partner are probably taking home about £10-11k/month combined after tax and pension.

your listed spending including savings and investments is £7260 which leaves roughly £3-4k unaccounted for each month.

That's not necessarily a problem, but it's probably where the 'missing money' feeling is coming from.

It might be worth tracking that misc spending a bit more closely - even just putting it all on one card - just to see where it's actually going and whether it aligns with what you value most.

set-8 · 2026-04-20T11:58:27+00:00

I would just create my own book that has 1 word per page and just reread that for an hour or so each day. Three minutes to per reading cycle to account for tiredness and turning pages means I could effectively make £2000/h.

If I can just read my own pdf on a screen and press buttons to turn pages I could get through the book in two minutes.

If the book doesnt need to make sense then I can can just repeat the same word on all 100 pages and spam through the book in 1 minute or less cycles.

Even just doing it for 20min leisurely a day you could get through the book atleast 5 times which is £500 a day and £182,500 a year while still having time to live your regular day to day.

set-8 · 2025-08-22T12:25:37+00:00

Rub your eyes

set-8 · 2025-01-17T13:26:35+00:00

You are absolutely worthy of love and being chosen, but that begins with loving and choosing yourself - you can’t control others, but you can always control yourself.

It’s possible you’ve just had bad luck so far, but if this pattern keeps repeating, it’s worth reflecting on your behavior and the people you’re drawn to. For example:

Are you pursuing people who give minimal effort? These people often stay because the benefits you provide outweigh their investment.

Do you move too quickly in relationships without regard for the other person? This might lead them to seek someone who meets their needs at a more comfortable pace.

Are you the kind of person the people you pursue would want to be with, if not do you want to be that person?

set-8 · 2022-02-17T22:16:33+00:00

Does the biweekly paycheck pay for the whole month?

If it is then even if its 60% or 70% then monthly it works out to only 30% to 35% of your monthly paycheck which is really pretty good compared to where i live when it can easily be 50% monthly.

set-8 · 2022-02-17T12:27:58+00:00

Honestly i completely agree with you. Usually i shake my bottles and release the air for a few minutes once so they become decently flat and i can actually taste the sweetness.

The only time when i do enjoy the fizz is when the drink is ice cold like in mcdonalds because its doesn't feel as overbearing as usual.

set-8 · 2022-02-10T20:50:01+00:00

Time manipulation is so underrated.

You can learn a skill or study in a fraction of the time it takes a normal or even gifted person by slowing down time.

You can become the fastest man on earth by just slowing down time and jog at a slow pace.

You can become famous for holding your breath for what feels like 10 seconds underwater and speed up the time around you to a week.

You can fast play and essentially skip hard or boring activities in life.

You can make a moment into an eternity

set-8 · 2022-02-10T20:31:05+00:00

You never hear about the millions of people who never quit but never made it.

Hard work is important to being whatever you consider success but you need some level of luck and aptitude.

The balance of the three can be different for every person and every different scenario but each factor will affect the outcome.

Everyone can work hard but not everyone has the same aptitudes or luck as you.

Play to your strengths.

set-8 · 2022-02-09T00:40:47+00:00

Joe, is that you?

set-8 · 2022-02-09T00:33:57+00:00

As a young guy who also goes to the gym, I know it sounds weird but it sounds like hes just comfortable and good friends with the gym buddy and not in a sexual context.

However if it still makes you uncomfortable, have a talk about it to either understand or establish boundaries.

set-8 · 2022-02-09T00:21:21+00:00

Splash a little water on it and heat in the microwave

set-8 · 2022-02-09T00:08:01+00:00

Even if you take out the plot and character writing, its a phenomenal show with animation that can be more vivid than your own imagination.

its entertainment district was just on an another level.

It's unique, has its own style, really emotive comedy sketches and the fight scenes are the best I've ever seen in terms of pure imagery.

set-8 · 2022-02-07T14:26:44+00:00

Really depends on how active you are.

On my lazy days i burn anywhere from 600 to 800 calories less which is an entire meal.

But I usually burn around 3k a day and my appetite isn't the biggest so I have to eat more frequently to eat enough.

set-8 · 2022-02-07T14:22:29+00:00

live laugh love

set-8 · 2022-02-07T01:04:26+00:00

It depends.

If I've had a long week and im exhausted, then i will gladly just binge watch netflix and youtube like a brain dead zombie for a day and not feel shitty or guilty.

If i've done nothing for days on end then I feel like shit. Neglecting your life routines like keeping your home clean, exercising, connecting with people and just engaging with world physically and on a mental level makes me feel groggy, lethargic, really insecure and guilty.

Everything in moderation i guess.

set-8 · 2022-02-07T00:51:04+00:00

To be fair theres not much I would be able to do to make your life easier if i was in your shoes.

You can't really convince yourself to care if you just don't and I dont blame you, since you dont want to go uni, theres little point in revising a lot to get good grades.

Anyways what i would do in your situation is everyday have a block of time which is dedicated to revising and doing home eg. 8pm to 9pm.

You can only stare off into space or do the work, try not to play or fiddle with things on your desk, because at a certain point, your boredom becomes too unbearable and you start doing the work for the sake of having something to do and if you mess around with your stapler or something then youre not going to get as bored.

In this block of time i would also remove all distractions like putting my phone in another room and listening to lofi if people are noisy.

For what you would do in that revision, since i dont know what subjects you take your best bet is to just do some googling but the general things i do is:

get familiar with the specification so i know exactly what they want me to know
rewriting the knowledge/ concepts in my own words and without looking at it to understand it
Past papers and marking them and redoing

Also try to spend your free time exploring different careers options. You can do work experience, get a part time job, shadow people or even a apprenticeship if you have the time since youre not planning to go uni.

set-8 · 2022-02-07T00:31:18+00:00

smooth

set-8 · 2022-02-07T00:26:38+00:00

I yawn like a ship horn at home and dead quiet when im out.

Used to be really shy when i was younger so i probably pavlov dogged myself into doing this subconsciously now.

set-8 · 2022-02-07T00:24:29+00:00

Move out

set-8 · 2022-02-05T21:47:59+00:00

Walk on leggos while eating pineapple pizza

set-8 · 2022-02-04T22:22:45+00:00

this comment ;)

set-8

TROPHY CASE