It has been 4 months as an apprentice. During this time, I learnt, collaborated, communicated a lot. Only after being through this process, I understand the importance of the stages we have in the apprenticeship. These stages are;
The Basics
At the basics stage, apprentices understand the program and discover the possibilities. For me, this part was the hardest one since I’ve needed to discover brand new working culture together with the program itself.
The Business
The Business stage is where you learn more about the company itself. It is all about communicating with the other departments of the company. Since I will work with the product team, it makes sense for me to join other departments for some time. Apprenticeship is the most suitable time to understand your company. For more information, check out the Apprenticeship: Second Phase post.
The Masterpiece
This stage is the final stage of the apprenticeship. It is time to reflect yourself and your learnings from previous stages. During the masterpiece you need to build a medium sized application in two months.
During my first days as an apprentice, I’ve stressed myself with the masterpiece stage. But, I wasn’t able to understand the stages back then. Right now, I can see that the previous stages prepared me for the masterpiece. Only after being through these processes, I understand the value on them. In the the basics stage, I found a free space to discover and I found the chance to fill the gaps in my knowledge. When everything started to feel usual, the business stage was waiting for me to challenge. During the second stage, I had chance understand about the company and the people.
Depending on all the knowledge and the experience I get from previous stages, I feel empowered to do my masterpiece. My nerve turned into fun in four months. Even this little blog post explains my apprenticeship in a nutshell. First, I learnt the importance of the baby steps, then I tried to apply this approach in every occasion, even in my life. I was afraid of the masterpiece, because I was thinking further at first. Then I took the baby steps and enjoyed the other stages of the apprenticeship.
Today is the time for the masterpiece and I feel ready because of the baby steps I took in four months.