My name is Navin Sonsana and I am a Deputy Lead Prefect at St Edmund’s Catholic Academy. 

I have secured a place on the Software Engineering Degree Apprenticeship at Rolls Royce that starts in September 2023. A Software Engineer at Rolls Royce is responsible for developing solutions, enhancing technology and maintaining the software that powers aircrafts, submarines and other components.

I applied to 5 Russell Group universities, as well as making an application to Rolls Royce. Based on my CV, I was selected by Rolls Royce to move on to the second stage and then completed 3 online tests that identified my judgemental skills, my reasoning behind certain choices, as well as gaining an insight into my personality.

Moving onto the third stage, I was given a week to prepare for my interview and create a presentation that would demonstrate my confidence, passion and how well I can articulate myself. The interview was 50 minutes long, where I was asked a range of questions about my life choices and how I went about things previously, along with what I can offer to Rolls Royce. This was followed by a 7 minute presentation, in which I presented and demonstrated my passion from a selected topic. My presentation was based on my current project in 3D Design (Aircraft Design) and I was very thorough in my detail. After presenting, there was a brief period for Q&A and we then proceeded with a 30 minute period discussing solutions with reasoning for a case study I was given.

During the third stage, there were 7 other candidates drawn from a large number of applications from across the whole of the UK. 37 applicants were shortlisted to be on the apprenticeship. I received a phone call on Friday 10th February, two weeks after the interview, to congratulate me on my success. The Apprenticeship includes a day release to the University of Derby for one day of the week and the rest of the week is based at Rolls Royce in Solihull. 

I am extremely happy and thankful for the position, knowing how hard I have worked to get this apprenticeship. My feedback was that I did extremely well on the interview, I was passionate about everything I talked about and they wanted me to be on their team.

I am thankful to everyone who has supported me through this, including my parents, and Mrs Devi and Mr Sokher, who helped me to refine my ideas in preparation for the interview.

Navin Sonsana

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