Benjamin Coke Blog Post - My Experience with the Scott Logic Graduate Training #332
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| This first week of training was when I met my mentor and my line manager. Your mentor is a daily contact who will help you find your feet with the training, make sure you’re working to best practices while completing the exercises, and give you extra directions to explore while you are learning. I feel very lucky to have had a mentor with a broad view of the technology landscape who was willing to donate her time to help me though issues and difficulties I faced while learning. | ||
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| You will have less frequent contact with your line manager, but they will still give you weekly check-ins. These are to make sure you’re progressing through the training well and that you understand the feedback you’re being given. Your line manager will help you take care of your broader professional development while you’re with Scott Logic. |
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This may have changed for grads, but line manager check-in times can be quite varied might be worth calling them regular rather than weekly
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I've made this a bit vaguer in my draft.
| You will have less frequent contact with your line manager, but they will still give you weekly check-ins. These are to make sure you’re progressing through the training well and that you understand the feedback you’re being given. Your line manager will help you take care of your broader professional development while you’re with Scott Logic. | ||
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| One piece of advice I would give here, relevant even at the start of the training, is to get the best understanding of Git you can and to start working to best practices regarding commits and pull requests as early as possible. This will help make sure you are building good habits throughout your training. Showing your work to your mentor early and often is a great way to help them identify where you need to focus to improve and where you are already strong. | ||
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Yes, knwoing git early is very useful!!!!!
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You'll have design patterns starting soon, that'll be the final bit of the initial training, not sure if its worth a mention (it would delay your blog post to gather your thoughts |
I've added a line about looking forward to the design patterns and open source training, I'm not sure that it needs more than that. Now that we've started the grad project I think we are in a slightly different stage of the cycle and it's better to have a final thoughts here rather then mixing the two stages. Let me know what you think. |
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| Hi! | ||
| I’m Ben, I joined Scott Logic as a graduate software developer in March of 2025. This was a bit of a jump for me as it constituted a move from the windy rainy coast of Southeast Scotland to the windy rainy almost coast of Northeast England. Over the last three months I’ve taken part in the training program run by Scott Logic for new graduates. I’ve gained a lot over the course of the training and want to highlight some of the lessons I’ve learned while walking through my diary of the last few months. |
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is Northeast supposed to be 2 words
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| Hi! | ||
| I’m Ben, I joined Scott Logic as a graduate software developer in March of 2025. This was a bit of a jump for me as it constituted a move from the windy rainy coast of Southeast Scotland to the windy rainy almost coast of Northeast England. Over the last three months I’ve taken part in the training program run by Scott Logic for new graduates. I’ve gained a lot over the course of the training and want to highlight some of the lessons I’ve learned while walking through my diary of the last few months. |
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learned - American English
learnt - British English
upto you? both technically correct?
| Hi! | ||
| I’m Ben, I joined Scott Logic as a graduate software developer in March of 2025. This was a bit of a jump for me as it constituted a move from the windy rainy coast of Southeast Scotland to the windy rainy almost coast of Northeast England. Over the last three months I’ve taken part in the training program run by Scott Logic for new graduates. I’ve gained a lot over the course of the training and want to highlight some of the lessons I’ve learned while walking through my diary of the last few months. | ||
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| This is mostly aimed at new graduates who are coming after us and undertaking future graduate training at Scott Logic. Hopefully this will outline a roadmap of what you can expect from your training while also giving you several key pieces of advice that might have given me a leg up when I started. |
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maybe re-word 'who are coming after us' to 'aimed at future graduates who are to undertake the training following us'?
(sounds like we're being chased)
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Maybe add comma after 'expect from your training' and before 'while'?
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| This is mostly aimed at new graduates who are coming after us and undertaking future graduate training at Scott Logic. Hopefully this will outline a roadmap of what you can expect from your training while also giving you several key pieces of advice that might have given me a leg up when I started. | ||
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| My post-hired experiences at Scott Logic started the Friday before the graduate introduction week, there was a small meet and greet with some of the new graduates and the staff who we would get to know more over the next few months. This was a good way to meet a few people and make the start of the programme a bit smoother. It was also when I met our Graduate Coordinator and our Graduate Training Officer, two faces I would get to know and appreciate very well over the following months. |
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'My Scott Logic experience' rather than 'my post-hired experiences at Scott Logic' ?
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'started the Friday before graduate introduction week'
(remove 'the' between before and graduate')
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'with some of the graduates and staff'
(remove new (implied?) and 'the' before staff)
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| ## Introduction Week | ||
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| Then, on the 24th of March, grad week kicked off – at the time feeling very much like a whirlwind. The days were filled with presentations and activities that introduced us to anyone and everyone from all over the company, most especially the Newcastle office. These presentations introduced the structure of the company, the key people, and the different functions that exist at Scott Logic. We learned about Scott Logic’s values and business ethics, had our HR induction, and got our laptops set up. |
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'anyone and everyone', would maybe re-word, 'introduced us to many colleagues throughout the company, of differing job roles and responsibilities'
would also re-word 'key people' to 'key roles' maybe?
not sure what 'functions' are either - so maybe more specific?
Again learned vs learnt.
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| ## The Training Starts | ||
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| After the introduction week our training started in full. This was a quick introduction to the building blocks of web development: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These are tools some of us had used before, and some hadn’t. This is fine, there was no expectation that we would walk through the doors as wizards. Just try to get your feet beneath you and get started. If you’re familiar with these technologies this is a great time to show off a bit and add a bit of flair into your work. |
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rather than 'quick' - something like 'foundational introduction to HTML, CSS and Javascript'? (mention web dev next bit - see below)
'Tools familiar to some and not to others. There was no expection that... ...as web development wizards'?
Don't know if you need the feet beneath bit - up to you? - saying is also possibly 'feet under you'?
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| After the introduction week our training started in full. This was a quick introduction to the building blocks of web development: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These are tools some of us had used before, and some hadn’t. This is fine, there was no expectation that we would walk through the doors as wizards. Just try to get your feet beneath you and get started. If you’re familiar with these technologies this is a great time to show off a bit and add a bit of flair into your work. | ||
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| This first week of training was when I met my mentor and my line manager. Your mentor is a daily contact who will help you find your feet with the training, make sure you’re working to best practices while completing the exercises, and give you extra directions to explore while you are learning. I feel very lucky to have had a mentor with a broad view of the technology landscape who was willing to donate her time to help me though issues and difficulties I faced while learning. |
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mention of finding your feet again - so yeh, maybe don't need again in above paragraph about starting web dev
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don't need 'while completing the exercises'
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add an 'and' - 'and who was willing to'
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'I faced while learning'
while - more American
whilst - British
(up to you)
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| This first week of training was when I met my mentor and my line manager. Your mentor is a daily contact who will help you find your feet with the training, make sure you’re working to best practices while completing the exercises, and give you extra directions to explore while you are learning. I feel very lucky to have had a mentor with a broad view of the technology landscape who was willing to donate her time to help me though issues and difficulties I faced while learning. | ||
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| You will have less frequent contact with your line manager, but they will still have check-ins with you regularly. These are to make sure you’re progressing through the training well and that you understand the feedback you’re being given. Your line manager will help you take care of your broader professional development while you’re with Scott Logic. |
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'check-ins with you regularly' -> 'regular check-ins with you'
(personal preference- up to you)
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don't need 'being' between you're and given
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| You will have less frequent contact with your line manager, but they will still have check-ins with you regularly. These are to make sure you’re progressing through the training well and that you understand the feedback you’re being given. Your line manager will help you take care of your broader professional development while you’re with Scott Logic. | ||
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| One piece of advice I would give here, relevant even at the start of the training, is to get the best understanding of Git you can and to start working to best practices regarding commits and pull requests as early as possible. This will help make sure you are building good habits throughout your training. Showing your work to your mentor early and often is a great way to help them identify where you need to focus to improve and where you are already strong. |
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Maybe last line
'Additionally, showing work to your mentor early and often is a great way to help them identify your strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to tailor their focus and help you improve'?
(something like that ish)
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| ## Object Oriented Programming | ||
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| After spending a week on the web technologies, we started our Java training. I had worked with Java before at university but there was a noticeable change to working on it in a professional environment. Unit testing, in particular, was something I was familiar with but had been quite lazy about. Now I have more focus not just on writing unit tests but writing them in a way that detects categories of error. |
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'had been lazy about' -> 'had been neglecting'?
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| After spending a week on the web technologies, we started our Java training. I had worked with Java before at university but there was a noticeable change to working on it in a professional environment. Unit testing, in particular, was something I was familiar with but had been quite lazy about. Now I have more focus not just on writing unit tests but writing them in a way that detects categories of error. | ||
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| This was the part of the training where it felt to me like everyone in the cohort stepped up a gear and was working with a bit more drive. I was often impressed by how others had approached the same problems I was working on with a very different approach. |
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Maybe re-word? - rather tha saying we stepped up / had more drive than previously - people's different styles became more apparant and I was often impressed at the different approaches to the same problem.
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| This was the part of the training where it felt to me like everyone in the cohort stepped up a gear and was working with a bit more drive. I was often impressed by how others had approached the same problems I was working on with a very different approach. | ||
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| Here my advice is to use failure as a learning opportunity. Every time you get stuck on a bug and need help to get unstuck you deepen your understanding of the problem, the language, and the paradigm. |
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'My advice here is to embrace your failures as learning opportunities' (could also maybe use another word than failures? - upto you?)
upto you, could play with 'bug' - 'Every opportunity to squash a bug is a chance to deepen your...'
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| ## The Scott Logic Community | ||
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| It was during the Java training when I started attending some of the extra activities that are organised at Scott Logic. The lunch n’ learns are a relaxed and friendly way to hear talks about something interesting and new. These talks have been on a wild range of topics including things I know about and want to get more information on like Optionals in Java, and also things I’ve never heard of in completely new domains like a funky sudoku puzzle that Joel found interesting and wanted to tell people about. |
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'are a relaxed opportunity to hear talks about interesting and current topics'?
'These talks have covered a wide range of topics such as...' - I'd list some topics in quotes 'Optionals in java', ...
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| It was during the Java training when I started attending some of the extra activities that are organised at Scott Logic. The lunch n’ learns are a relaxed and friendly way to hear talks about something interesting and new. These talks have been on a wild range of topics including things I know about and want to get more information on like Optionals in Java, and also things I’ve never heard of in completely new domains like a funky sudoku puzzle that Joel found interesting and wanted to tell people about. | ||
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| Another great idea at Scott Logic are the Communities of Practice. These are groups that self-organise around a specific function, like backend development or testing. They are an excellent venue for discussion of specific topics with those sub domains and have been a great way for me to listen to the considered wisdom of more senior developers. These talks give me a viewpoint into what developers care about at that level and what they are interested in pursuing further. They often offer links to methodologies or tools or ideas that I’ve never heard of or never considered using for myself. |
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'Another great part/piece? of Scott Logic is the Communities of Practice.
'discussion of specific topics with those sub domains' - don't quite understand this line?
'These talks have given me insight into aspects and the perspective of senior developement, ....' - maybe...?
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| Another great idea at Scott Logic are the Communities of Practice. These are groups that self-organise around a specific function, like backend development or testing. They are an excellent venue for discussion of specific topics with those sub domains and have been a great way for me to listen to the considered wisdom of more senior developers. These talks give me a viewpoint into what developers care about at that level and what they are interested in pursuing further. They often offer links to methodologies or tools or ideas that I’ve never heard of or never considered using for myself. | ||
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| One thing that I’ve brought from these presentations and workshops into my work in the training is to take the opportunities to explain what you’re working on and to assist the others in your cohort with their work. Knowledge sharing is great for your peers and also helps deepen your own understanding of the topic. |
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'One thing I've understood from these presentations and workshops is to take the opportunity to share your work and assist others when you can'?
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| Here my advice is to use failure as a learning opportunity. Every time you get stuck on a bug and need help to get unstuck you deepen your understanding of the problem, the language, and the paradigm. | ||
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| ## The Scott Logic Community |
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Re-order suggestion
Full Stack Training before Scott Logic Community - I think it flows better? (training specific -> general life at SL)
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| ## Full Stack Training | ||
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| After two weeks of working on Java we moved on again to the full stack part of the training. Our frontend is built with Angular, our backend with Spring Boot. By working on both the frontend and backend pieces of the application we get a comprehensive view of the development of this kind of architecture. Because this is a larger project it took a bit more time to come together into a working application. Each feature takes longer to add and become complete. It was also my first introduction to dependency injection and inversion of control, which took me a bit of time to get my head around. Don’t worry about struggling with concepts like these, talk to people and ask for explanations. Plenty of people at Scott Logic have been happy to help me correct and refine my understanding of broader concepts. |
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remove 'become' - 'Each feature takes longer to implement and complete'
replace 'a bit of time' - 'some time'
replace 'have been happy' -'are happy'
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| After two weeks of working on Java we moved on again to the full stack part of the training. Our frontend is built with Angular, our backend with Spring Boot. By working on both the frontend and backend pieces of the application we get a comprehensive view of the development of this kind of architecture. Because this is a larger project it took a bit more time to come together into a working application. Each feature takes longer to add and become complete. It was also my first introduction to dependency injection and inversion of control, which took me a bit of time to get my head around. Don’t worry about struggling with concepts like these, talk to people and ask for explanations. Plenty of people at Scott Logic have been happy to help me correct and refine my understanding of broader concepts. | ||
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| It was during the full stack training when we started regularly demoing our work in our stand-ups. When working with a client they will be curious and want to know what it is you have been working on. To ease us into this we had practice sessions where we showed our mentors our work and explain what we had been working on over the last week. |
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remove second 'our' - 'our work in stand-ups.'
remove first 'our' - 'we showed the mentors our work'
past tense - 'explain' to 'explained'
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| It was during the full stack training when we started regularly demoing our work in our stand-ups. When working with a client they will be curious and want to know what it is you have been working on. To ease us into this we had practice sessions where we showed our mentors our work and explain what we had been working on over the last week. | ||
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| Two pieces of advice I was given were to have a plan for my demo and to show the logical story of a feature. What I found was that the demo often turned into a bit of a Q&A about my website as a whole rather than just about the feature I was describing. This ended up giving me more feedback and more things to work on, so on the whole I thought it was quite good. |
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'into a Q&A about my website as a whole, rather...'
'quite good' -> 'particularly useful'?
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| Two pieces of advice I was given were to have a plan for my demo and to show the logical story of a feature. What I found was that the demo often turned into a bit of a Q&A about my website as a whole rather than just about the feature I was describing. This ended up giving me more feedback and more things to work on, so on the whole I thought it was quite good. | ||
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| From this point on the main work of our training was polishing our full stack web applications under the guidance of our mentors and according to our own thoughts and desires. Improvements became less earth-shattering and more incremental. Adding one feature at a time to make a more whole application. This is a great time to expand beyond the baseline and explore the aspects of the project you find most interesting. |
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'From this point the primary goal of our...'
replace 'according to our own...' with
'and tailoring to our own interests and preferences'?
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| ## Presentations and Workshops | ||
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| Throughout our training we had presentations and workshops with the developers and senior developers on a range of topics like Git, Agile, Java language features, and software testing. We also started the grad code series – a fun opportunity for each of us to give our own presentations. Each week has a topic and a four or five of us presented on a subtopic. Some of the topics were very broad, each subtopic covering a different programming paradigm, others were narrower and we found we were struggling not to cover the same things in each of the week’s talks. I know it’s common to have nerves about giving talks or presentations, but these are very informal and really just an opportunity to create a discussion. If you are learning and the others in your group are learning, then everyone is doing great! |
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'has a topic and a four or five of us presented on a subtopic.' - remove 'a' -> 'and four or five...'
re-word?
'As long as you and your group are learning something, then everyone is doing great!'
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| ## Final Thoughts | ||
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| Looking back the time seems to have gone by at lightning speed. Each week we’ve made noticeable improvements on the previous. The contact with mentors helped us improve day by day and our Graduate Coordinator and Training Officer worked hard to keep us on a steady course. |
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Looking back, the time.... - add comma
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| Looking back the time seems to have gone by at lightning speed. Each week we’ve made noticeable improvements on the previous. The contact with mentors helped us improve day by day and our Graduate Coordinator and Training Officer worked hard to keep us on a steady course. | ||
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| So that’s my summary of the Scott Logic Graduate Training. It was a great time for me, I met loads of people who have similar interests to me, who know loads, and who want to see me grow. I would tell you that my most important piece of advice is to have fun but that’s trite and overused. Instead, I’ll ask that when you are going through your training you spend some time considering what advice would have been most helpful to you, so you might give it to those who follow in your footsteps. |
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So, that's my summary... - add comma
'It was a great experience for me, I met many people with similar interests to myself/me, with plenty of knowledge and a willingness to share it.'
Please add a direct link to your post here:
https://bcoke-scottlogic.github.io/blog/2025/06/30/my-experience-with-the-scott-logic-gradutate-training.html
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