ITPROFESSIONALAPPRENTICESHIP(Intermediate&Advanced)

WhatdoesanITProfessionalApprenticedo?

AnITProfessionalApprenticeprovidessupporttointernalandexternalcustomers,helpingthemtobeproductivewhenusingtechnologytodotheirownjobs,byusingtoolstoproblemsolveandtroubleshootnonroutineproblems.TheApprenticesetspeopleuponsystemsandprovidessupportwhentheyneedit,rectifyingissuestomaintaintheorganisationsproductivity.Design,install,maintainandsupportcommunicationnetworkswithinanorganisationorbetweenorganisationsandunderstandnetworkconfiguration,cloud,networkadministrationandmonitoringtools,andbeabletogivetechnicaladviceandguidance.Buildandtestsimple,high-qualitycodeacrossfrontend,logicanddatabaselayers.

TypicalJobRoles:HelpDeskTechnician,FirstorSecondLineSupport,ITInfrastructureTechnician,NetworkSupport,NetworkTechnician,NetworkEngineer,SystemsEngineer,NetworkAdministrator,WebDeveloper,ApplicationDeveloper,MobileAppDeveloper,GamesDeveloper,SoftwareDeveloper,SoftwareDevelopmentTechnician, JuniorDeveloper,JuniorWebDeveloper,Junior Application Developer, Junior Mobile App Developer, Junior Games Developer, Junior Software Developer, JuniorApplication Support Analyst, Junior Programmer, Assistant Programmer and Automated Test Developer, Software Tester,SoftwareTestAnalyst.

EntryRequirements

Individualemployerswillsetthespecificselectioncriteriabuttheyarelikelytobelookingforsomerelevantqualificationsandexperience;anaptitudetestwithafocusonITskills,andahistoryofinterestandusageofvariousITprocessesandsystems.

ApprenticeshipStandardsCompetencies

• Communication:worksbothindependentlyandaspartofateamandfollowingtheorganisationsstandards;competentlydemonstratinganabilitytocommunicatebothinwritingandorallyatalllevels,usingarangeoftoolsanddemonstratingstronginterpersonalskillsandculturalawarenesswhendealingwithcolleagues,customersandclientsduringalltasks.

• IT Security: Demonstrates the necessary skills and behaviours to securely operate across all platforms and areas ofresponsibilitiesinlinewithorganisationalguidance,legislation.Appliesappropriatesecuredevelopmentprinciplestospecificsoftwarecomponentsallstagesofdevelopment

• RemoteInfrastructure:Effectivelyoperatesarangeofmobiledevicesandsecurelyaddthemtoanetworkinaccordancewithorganisationspoliciesandprocedures

• Data:effectivelyrecords,analysesandcommunicatesdataat theappropriate levelusingtheorganisation’sstandardtoolsandprocessesandtoallstakeholderswithintheresponsibilityoftheposition

• Problem solving: applies structured techniques to common and non-routine problems, testing methodologies andtroubleshootingandanalysesproblemsbyselectingthedigitalappropriatetoolsandtechniquesinlinewithorganisationguidanceandtoobtaintherelevantlogisticalsupportasrequired

• Workflowmanagement:worksflexiblyanddemonstratestheabilitytoworkunderpressuretoprogressallocatedtasksinaccordancewiththeorganisation’sreportingandqualitysystems

• Health and Safety: Interprets and follows IT legislation to securely and professional work productively in the workenvironment

• Performance:Optimisestheperformanceofhardware,softwareandNetworkSystemsandservicesinlinewithbusinessrequirements

• Candesignsimplenetworksfromawell-definedspecificationandapplyappropriatesecurityproductsandprocesses • Caninstallandconfigurenetworkcomponents,includingswitches,routersandfirewalls• Canoptimisetheperformanceofnetworksystemsandservices• Canmonitor,testandadjustnetworksystemsandperformancetomeetacceptedstandardsusingdiagnostictools,

analysersandotherequipment• Canapplydiagnostictoolsandtechniquestoidentifythecausesofnetworkperformanceissues• Canapplystructuredapproachestotroubleshootingnetworkissuesandrepairfaultsinhardware,softwareproducts

andthenetwork• Canundertakesystemupgradestonetworkhardware,softwareandoperatingsystems

• Canintegratenetworkrelatedsoftwareintoanexistingnetworkenvironment• Caninterpretwrittenrequirementsandtechnicalspecificationsfornetworkactivitiesandmaintainaccuraterecordsof

networkmaintenanceactivities.• Canlogandrespondtonetworkservicecallsandprovidetechnicalnetworksupporttoendusersasrequired• Candocumentworkdoneinaccordancewithagreedprocedures• Canoperatewithintheparametersofservicelevelagreements,standardsand/oragreedresponsetimes• Canoperateeffectivelyinthebusinessenvironmentandrespondstobusinessissuesrelatedtonetworkengineering• Logic:writesgoodqualitycode(logic)withsoundsyntaxinatleastonelanguage,writessimplecodefordiscrete

softwarecomponentsfollowinganappropriatelogicalapproachtoagreedstandards(whetherforweb,mobileordesktopapplications)

• Userinterface:candevelopeffectiveuserinterfacesforatleastonechannel • Data:caneffectivelylinkcodetothedatabase/datasets,makessimpleconnectionsbetweencodeanddefineddata

sourcesasspecifiedTest:functionallyteststhatthedeliverablesforthatcomponenthavebeenmetornot • Test:cantestcodeandanalyseresultstocorrecterrorsfoundusingeitherV-modelmanualtestingand/orusingunit

testing • Problemsolving:canapplystructuredtechniquestoproblemsolving,candebugcodeandcanunderstandthe

structureofprogrammesinordertoidentifyandresolveissues • Design:cancreatesimpledatamodelsandsoftwaredesignstoeffectivelycommunicateunderstandingoftheprogram,

followingbestpracticesandstandards • Analysis:canunderstandandcreatebasicanalysisartefacts,suchasusercasesand/oruserstories.Followsbasic

analysismodelssuchasusecasesandprocessmaps • Deployment:canunderstandandutiliseskillstobuild,manageanddeploycodeintoenterpriseenvironments • Developmentsupport:appliesindustrystandardapproachesforconfigurationmanagementandversioncontrolto

managecodeduringbuildandrelease • Developmentlifecycle:canoperateatallstagesofthesoftwaredevelopmentlifecycle,withincreasingbreadthand

depthovertimewithinitialfocusonbuildandtest.SupportstheSoftwareDevelopersatthebuildandteststagesofthesoftwaredevelopmentlifecycle

• Canapplygoodpracticeapproachesaccordingtotherelevantparadigm(forexampleobjectoriented,eventdrivenorprocedural)

• Caninterpretandfollow:

− softwaredesignsandfunctional/technicalspecifications− companydefined‘codingstandards’orindustrygoodpracticeforcoding− testingframeworksandmethodologies− company,teamorclientapproachestocontinuousintegration,versionandsourcecontrol

• Canapplythemathsrequiredtobeasoftwaredeveloper(e.g.algorithms,logicanddatastructures) • Implementssoftwaretestingproceduresonsoftwareapplications(includingdesktop,web,mobile,embedded,

mainframe)toensureagreederrorsandsecurityissuesareidentified,recorded,prioritisedandcorrectedbeforerelease.

• Reviewssoftwarerequirementsandspecificationsforsoftwarefunctionalityandsecurity,anddefinescomprehensivetestsandconditions.

• Designssimpleteststrategiesfornon-complexprojects. • Analysestestrequirementsanddesignsandpreparesatestplan. • Designsandbuildstestcases,testscripts,andtestprocedures,withexpectedresults. • Developsandcollectsrepresentativeandrealistictestdata. • Conductsarangeofdifferentsoftwaretestingtypes(includingUnitTesting,IntegrationTesting,FunctionalandNon • Testing:FunctionalTesting,SystemTesting,StressTesting,PerformanceTesting,UsabilityTesting,AcceptanceTesting,

RegressionTestingandExploratoryTesting);interpretingandexecutingsetsofmoderatelycomplextestscriptsusingagreedmethodsandstandards.

TechnicalKnowledgeandUnderstanding

• Workingknowledgeofarangeofcablingandconnectivity,thevarioustypesofantennasandwirelesssystemsandITtestequipment

• Understandsmaintenanceprocessesandappliestheminworkingpractices • Understandsandappliesthebasicelementsandarchitectureofcomputersystems • Understandswheretoapplytherelevantnumericalskillse.gBinary • Understandsherelevantnetworkingskillsnecessarytomaintainasecurenetwork • Understandsthesimilarities,differencesandbenefitsofthecurrentOperatingSystemsavailable • Understandshowtooperateremotelyandhowtodeployandsecurelyintegratemobiledevices • UnderstandingandworkingknowledgeofCloudandCloudServices • Understandstheimportanceofdisasterrecoveryandhowadisasterrecoveryplanworksandtheirrolewithinit • Understandsthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenarangeofcodingandlogic • Understandsandcomplieswithbusinessprocesses • WorkingknowledgeofbusinessITskillsrelevanttotheorganisation • Understandsandappliestheprinciplesofnetworking,protocolsandassociatedtechnologies(specificallythisshould

includethelatestpublishedversionsofOSIlayermodel,IP,TCP/IP,routingandswitching,WANs,LANs) • Understandsandappliestheappliedmathsrequiredtobeanetworkengineer(e.g.algorithms,data,binary,probability

andstatistics)• Understandsthecausesandconsequencesofsystemfailureincludingloadbalanceandstorageprotocolsandresponds

appropriately• UnderstandsthearchitectureofatypicalbusinessITsystem,includinghardware,OS,server,virtualisation,middleware

andapplications• Understandsandrespondstosecuritythreats,firewallsandvulnerabilities• Understandsandoperatesatallstagesofthesoftwaredevelopmentlifecycle• Understandsthesimilaritiesanddifferences(takingintoaccountpositivesandnegativesofbothapproaches)between

agileandwaterfallsoftwaredevelopmentmethodologies • Understandshowteamsworkeffectivelytoproducesoftwareandcontributesappropriately • Understandsandappliessoftwaredesignapproachesandpatternsandcaninterpretandimplementagivendesign,

compliantwithsecurityandmaintainabilityrequirements • Understandsandrespondstothebusinessenvironmentandbusinessissuesrelatedtosoftwaredevelopment • Understandsthebusinesscontextandmarketenvironmentforsoftwaredevelopment • Understandsthestructureofsoftwareapplications • Understandstheroleofconfigurationmanagementandversioncontrolsystemsandhowtoapplythem • Understandshowtotesttheircode(e.g.unittesting) • Recognisesthattherearedifferentmethodologiesthatcanbeusedforsoftwaredevelopment • Understandstheparticularcontextforthedevelopmentplatform(whetherweb,mobile,ordesktopapplications) • Understandstheirrolewithintheirsoftwaredevelopmentteam • Understandshowtoimplementcodefollowingalogicalapproach. • Understandsandcanapplythebasicconceptsofsoftwaretestingincludingtestingtypes;testprocedures;testing

techniques;testingtoolsandtestingterms. • Understandshowtouseandapplyautomatedtesttools. • Understandstheimportanceofaccuracyandcleardocumentationofsoftwaretests. • Understandshowtousebugtrackingtools • Understandsandcancommunicatethedifferencesbetweensoftwaretestingandverification. • Understandsindustrystandardsoftwaredevelopmentparadigmsandmethods(including.ObjectOriented,procedural

andagile)toconducttesting. • Understandsthatsoftwareshouldbe‘securebydesign’andhowtotestforsecurityrequirements. • Understandstherangeandfeaturesofsoftwaretestcommonlyused(UnitTesting,IntegrationTesting,Functionaland

Non-FunctionalTesting,SystemTesting,StressTesting,PerformanceTesting,UsabilityTesting,AcceptanceTesting,RegressionTestingandExploratoryTesting).

• Understandshowtosetupandconfiguretestingpackages. • Understandstheroleofsoftwaretestingwithinthewidersystemsdevelopmentlifecycle.

UnderpinningSkills,AttitudesandBehaviours

• Logicalandcreativethinkingskills• Analyticalandproblemsolvingskills• Abilitytoworkindependentlyandtotakeresponsibility• Canuseowninitiative• Athoroughandorganisedapproach• Abilitytoworkwitharangeofinternalandexternalpeople• Abilitytocommunicateeffectivelyinavarietyofsituations• Maintainproductive,professionalandsecureworkingenvironment

QualificationsThe core apprenticeship knowledgemodules are summarisedbelow forboth the Intermediate andAdvanced IT ProfessionalStandards,andfurtherdetailsofothercompetencyunitsareavailableinthefullApprenticeshipStandardsfromTranZed.CoreKnowledgeModules

• KnowledgeModule1:NetworkingandArchitecture(Intermediate) • KnowledgeModule2:MobileandOperatingSystems.(Intermediate) • KnowledgeModule3:CloudServices(Intermediate) • KnowledgeModule4:CodingandLogic(Intermediate) • KnowledgeModule5:BusinessProcesses(Intermediate) • KnowledgeModule6:NetworkPrinciples(Advanced) • KnowledgeModule7:NetworkSystemsandArchitecture(Advanced) • KnowledgeModule8:NetworkSecurity(Advanced) • KnowledgeModule9:SoftwareDevelopmentMethodologies(Intermediate&Advanced) • KnowledgeModule10:SoftwareLanguage(Advanced) • KnowledgeModule11:Programming(intermediate) • KnowledgeModule12:TestingTools(Advanced) • KnowledgeModule13:TestingConcepts