FINDING VALUE, COMMUNITY, AND A CAREER THROUGH MY YUPRO APPRENTICESHIP
By Kwame Bullen, Technology Management and Strategy Apprentice, Digitas Health
My name is Kwame Bullen and I am a Technology Management and Strategy apprentice at Digitas Health (DH). As my apprenticeship comes to a close, I want to express how I found value, community, and the foundation for a career during my time at DH.
It’s been an amazing time working at DH, especially because I enjoy the work culture. At DH people are friendly—and in a hybrid working world, nothing screams ‘friendly’ more than someone pinging you a smiley face emoji via Microsoft Teams.
Other than friendliness, I have had great management and support from my fellow colleagues. Any questions I had, people were always there to answer it and walk me through any issues.
The skills I’ve developed working here can be applied to take me almost anywhere—from the leadership skills that strengthened my interpersonal abilities—to newfound technical skills and an understanding of how to take a website or mobile application from beginning to end in the software development life cycle.
One of the first projects that I worked on entailed building an offline website for a drug used to treat asthma. And to be honest, it wasn’t smooth sailing at all! I learned very quickly how complex projects can be, the multiple variables to be aware of, and how to prepare and find strategies to still get the project to completion at the expected time.
One of my biggest accomplishments working as a Technology Manager was being able to look at the code of a website and know how to configure it. During my apprenticeship, I have seen issues where the developer’s code was not a complete match for what the stakeholders were envisioning; therefore, I took it upon myself to test and manipulate the code, provide my solution to the developer and resolve the issue. This task proved where I can be valuable and show my level of understanding when it comes to a project requirement. Being able to be celebrated for the value I have added also made me more passionate about my role.
This apprenticeship has provided me with tremendous value and momentum towards my goal to become a software engineer. At DH, I improved my understanding of how a website functions, especially at an enterprise level. I have learned many leadership skills because of the nature of my role, which will carry me through my career as well as the new found organizational skills.
My next step after apprenticeship is to be hired at Digitas Health and to attend a one-year full stack development bootcamp. This will allow me to get closer to the software engineering skills and knowledge that will give me overall value as a technologist. I have had tremendous growth being a part of Digitas Health family and I want to say I’m thankful to have spent my apprenticeship at DH. In conclusion, my journey with Digitas Health has been a positive and fulfilling experience and I look forward to continuing my professional journey at Digitas Health through my new job within the technology department!
A word from Kwame’s manager, Chris Kraft
The Year-Up program has made me a believer in the YUPRO team and their ability to prepare participants for a successful career in the corporate world. I was paired with one of the hardest working, most dedicated individuals I’ve ever met, and it’s been a true pleasure watching him and the other apprentices grow in their new roles.
Over the last several months, my apprentice was tasked with learning complex skills and taking on challenging projects, and he was able to not only meet these challenges but exceed them. The program has been such a great success that we are happy to offer our apprentice a position within the technology department.
All of this success is a testament to the dedication the YUPRO team shows their talent and partners on a daily basis. I personally relied heavily on their guidance and experience throughout the duration of the program, and look forward to working with the team again in the future.
