Apprentice #lockdowndiaries – Emily Saffron, Software Engineer Apprentice

Hi! I’m Emily Saffron and I started as a software engineer degree apprentice based in London in September 2020. I’ll finish with a degree in digital and technology solutions – as well as 3 years of work experience!

Of course, my scheme has had to adapt this year. I am yet to enter a BBC building or meet anyone in person. However, this hasn’t left me lonely or unsociable, from the beginning I have virtually hung out with the other apprentices and my placement team. I’ve taken part in (and lost) so many zoom quizzes I’m now a trivia master. I’ve played “Among Us” with my placement team enough to know none of us are a convincing imposter.

On a day-to-day basis my team stay connected through Slack, a messaging app. This is a pretty fun way of staying in touch, with a range of gifs and emojis quickly becoming a main communication method. Meetings held on zoom are used as an opportunity for casual chat as well. Working from home, personally, has been a very positive experience, it helps that my commute has never been so short!

I look forward to continuing as I am now; everyone has been so nice that I’m excited to continue those friendships in person eventually. If I could tell brand new apprentices anything, I’d say not to worry about not getting on with people – I have never been in a more welcoming space where it’s easy to build friendships, even virtually.