We are proud to announce that Payara have pledged our support this year to the Marine Conservation Society UK (MCSUK) as Gold Company Members.

As an Apprentice at Payara, not a day goes by where I haven't learned something new and intriguing. I've been an apprentice with the company since November of 2018 and the experience is, so far, proving to be one of great worth and one that I would recommend to any post college student with a passion for technology.

We all have our little aids that keep us ticking along, tapping that keyboard, making the magic runes do the things. This blog will make me sound very British, and may make you hungry, but here are my five best fuels that keep me making sarcastic comments and writing code when I start to lag on the long days:

Recently I had an opportunity to take part in a career fair hosted by The Chase School. The school is adjacent to our office which has led to the development of a special relationship between the school and our company. We have taken students for work experience and apprenticeships over the past few years.  We are always looking for opportunities to find new talent locally, and the career fair provided exactly that. The fair was attended by students in year 11 - 13. This provided an excellent platform to promote our degree apprenticeship.

I started out as any other student doing A-levels, being force-fed the idea that to have any semblance of success in life I have to be looking at universities, which I partly believed. After passing my A-levels and planning to take a gap-year to mull over going to University, worrying about the £40,000+ debt once I finish, then the job hunt, where you are competing with hundreds (if not thousands) of starry-eyed graduates that have the same degree. What I quickly learned about the IT industry, however, is that a degree doesn't tell a employer how good you are at writing code, because in the industry, experience takes precedence.

It has to be said that the people in the UK office do like to BAKE!

When I started at Payara, the company treated me and the other new starting apprentice to a meal out with the rest of the engineering team.

I think most people would agree with me when I say starting at a new job is daunting. And furthermore, I think most would agree that getting to know your new colleagues can be a large factor in that. Honestly, that was how I was feeling about coming into the new role and approaching this meet-the-team opportunity. But in reality? It made the experience much easier and much more comfortable!