Meet former Apprentice turned Junior Developer, Tom Clague

What has been your career journey at PDMS?

I joined PDMS as an Apprentice Developer in 2017 straight after finishing my A-Levels. I went to college one day a week as part of the Digital Apprenticeship Scheme and spent four days at PDMS. Once my two-year apprenticeship was complete, I was offered a permanent role as Trainee Developer where I continued to work on my skills switching between various projects and gaining valuable experience. The following year, I was promoted to my current role of Junior Developer.

How did you come to join PDMS?

I saw an article in the newspaper advertising the Digital Apprenticeship Scheme. I applied for the programme and was lucky enough to be offered a role with PDMS – they seemed to me like a great company to work for and would be the most beneficial for my learning path and career development.

What skills do you need to do your job?

• Strong problem-solving skills
• A willingness to learn due to the ever-changing technology
• Working well alongside others and having good communication skills
• Perseverance and determination when fixing bugs

What does a typical day look like for you?

A typical day for me starts off with a daily stand-up meeting with my team where we discuss what we did yesterday, what we are planning on doing today, and any obstacles we are facing.

After that, I will jump straight into coding, whether that's an urgent bug fixing or adding new features to our clients’ systems depending on the priorities fed down from the project manager.