Preparing for the Professional Discussion
Some time during the EPA window, you will undertake this second assessment method. The Professional Discussion is a one hour remote interview with an assessor in which the assessor will ask a minimum of 12 open questions. These questions will allow you to demonstrate your knowledge and skills in the areas that are otherwise difficult to demonstrate in the work-based project, such as your thoughts on “what are the differences between object oriented programming and functional programming”.
There will also be questions based around your portfolio (bring a copy with you) – both on what is in there, as well areas, if any, that are not covered (to check your understanding).
During this interview, you should refer to your portfolio to demonstrate you’ve hit KSBs.
Summary
When
You’ll fill in dates that you are available for the Professional Discussion before starting EPA (End Point Assessment), and the assessment organisation (BCS) will try and book the interview in the dates you give. You will receive an invite from the assessor approximately two weeks before the interview. If you are not available at the scheduled time please contact BCS to rearrange as soon as possible.
Where
The interview will take place remotely over a video call platform. You should connect from a “quiet room, free from distraction and external influence” – so make sure you book a meeting room if you work in an open office.
You’ll be expected to have your camera on and might find it useful to have a whiteboard (physical or digital) if you like to share ideas visually. You will need to show the assessor photo ID when you start the assessment.
What
The assessor will ask open questions about your work and opinions on the assessment topics, in order to start a discussion. This will most likely be based around your portfolio, or something you haven’t managed to cover in your portfolio. The assessor may ask follow up questions to dig into particular areas, but you can also lead the discussion into areas more relevant to you.
The questions will mainly be around your portfolio, projects, team and organisation during the apprenticeship. The assessment isn’t a technical quiz, but expect to be asked about software development practices.
During these questions, be sure to be able to direct the interviewer to parts of your portfolio where you have covered the areas raised in the question.
Preparation
Preparation should include creating a mapping document between your portfolio and the KSBs (your portfolio should already have the evidence mapped against KSBs, but it can be useful to have this as a separate document). This will allow you to quickly refer to parts of your work when questioned on KSBs. It will also allow you to identify areas that have not been covered in your portfolio, allowing you to read up on these areas as they are likely to come up.
You should read the assessment criteria and the KSBs associated with the portfolio work and professional discussion.
You should ensure that for each KSB you have an example to back up your understanding, or if not read the relevant modules so that you are knowledgeable on these areas. When undertaking this, feel free to reach out to your trainers via the usual routes (including a support call).
You can take notes of times that you’ve thought about or demonstrated a particular KSB, and refresh yourself of these before the call, or even bring it along with you.
Finally, if you would like, your Skills Coach can organise a mock interview a week or two before your assessment. Please reach out to your Skills Coach or the trainers to arrange it.
General tips
- Take ownership
- The assessor wants to hear about your achievements, actively claim credit for your work!
- Avoid using “we” too much – your team may share responsibility for the project, but the assessor wants to hear how you individually contributed
- Turn up prepared
- You can bring a log of relevant activities along that can prompt answers
- You should bring your portfolio with you
- Bring some water, you’ll be doing a lot of talking!
- Participate actively
- The assessor will open the conversation and provide some questions, but don’t be afraid to lead the discussion into areas more relevant to you
- You are encouraged to proactively confirm competencies – if you have great examples of anything, then feel free to bring them up!
- Don’t say “No.”, say “No, but”:
- Don’t miss an opportunity to show that you understand a process and how you manage the same concerns, even if you don’t strictly follow the pattern being discussed; for example, when asked to “talk about a time you have used OOP”, compare:
- “I’ve not done that”
- “I’ve not done that; in the projects I have worked on we have chosen to use functional programming due to x, y and z.”
- Don’t miss an opportunity to show that you understand a process and how you manage the same concerns, even if you don’t strictly follow the pattern being discussed; for example, when asked to “talk about a time you have used OOP”, compare:
What are the relevant criteria?
If you’re keen to see the full list, all the Knowledge, Skills and Behaviour (KSB) criteria can be viewed on the Institute For Apprenticeships documentation with those to be checked as part of this project listed in the EPA standard.
In order to gain a pass in the professional discussion you must meet the following criteria:
- Describes all stages of the software development lifecycle (K1)
- Describes the roles and responsibilities of the project lifecycle within their organisation, and their role (K3)
- Describes methods of communicating with all stakeholders that is determined by the audience and/or their level of technical knowledge. (K4, S15)
- Describes the similarities and differences between different software development methodologies, such as agile and waterfall (K5)
- Suggests and applies different software design approaches and patterns, to identify reusable solutions to commonly occurring problems (include Bespoke or off-the-shelf) (K7)
- Explains the relevance of organisational policies and procedures relating to the tasks being undertaken, and when to follow them including how they have followed company, team or client approaches to continuous integration, version, and source control (K8 S14)
- Applies the principles and uses of relational and non-relational databases to software development tasks (K10)
- Describes basic software testing frameworks and methodologies (K12)
- Explains, their own approach to development of user interfaces (S2)
- Explains, how they have linked code to data sets (S3)
- Illustrates how to conduct test types, including Integration, System, User Acceptance, Non-Functional, Performance and Security testing including how they have followed testing frameworks and methodologies (S5, S13)
- Creates simple software designs to communicate understanding of the programme to stakeholders and users of the programme (S8)
- Creates analysis artefacts, such as use cases and/or user stories to enable effective delivery of software activities (S9)
- Explains, how they have interpreted and implemented a given design whilst remaining compliant with security and maintainability requirements (S17)
- Describes, how they have operated independently to complete tasks to given deadlines which reflect the level of responsibility assigned to them by the organisation. (B1)
- Illustrates how they have worked collaboratively with people in different roles, internally and externally, which show a positive attitude to inclusion & diversity. (B4)
- Explains how they have established an approach in the workplace which reflects integrity with respect to ethical, legal, and regulatory matters and ensures the protection of personal data, safety and security. (B5)
- Illustrates their approach to meeting unexpected minor changes at work and outlines their approach to delivering within their remit using their initiative. (B6)
- Explains how they have communicated effectively in a variety of situations to both a technical and non-technical audience. (B7)
- Illustrates how they have responded to the business context with curiosity to explore new opportunities and techniques with tenacity to improve solution performance, establishing an approach to methods and solutions which reflects a determination to succeed (B8)
- Explains how they reflect on their continued professional development and act independently to seek out new opportunities (B9)
In order to get a distinction in the professional discussion you must meet the following criteria:
- Compares and contrasts the different types of communication used for technical and non-technical audiences and the benefits of these types of communication methods (K4, S15, B7)
- Evaluates and recommends approaches to using reusable solutions to common problems. (K7)
- Evaluates the use of various software testing frameworks and methodologies and justifies their choice. (K12) |
Grading
The Professional Discussion will be graded as either pass, fail or distinction. You will receive this with your final grade at the end of your EPA period. You must pass the Professional Discussion in order to pass the EPA, and gain a distinction in order to achieve a distinction overall.