Engineering Technical Apprentice Review

As a Technical Apprentice my first year has consisted of myself and the other apprentices on the course going to college full time to give ourselves a good grounding in the basics of engineering. I interact mainly with college lecturers with weekly meetings with my course leader from BAE

Working towards the HNC I have learned many new skills and have been given a solid grounding in all of the skills I think I will require when I move on to my placements in the next part of my apprenticeship.

I really enjoy turning up to college every day and the rest of the students on the course are good and easy to get along with.

At this moment in time I have been mainly at college and so my contact with BAE Systems as a company has been limited however, from the contact I have had with my manager and the placements that are on offer over the next year I think that apprentices seem to be well valued.

From BAE systems the induction and support has been very good however the college that is offering the HNC qualification has been quite poor organisationally. I believe this can be attributed to the fact that it is a brand new college and there has been some teething issues.

The support provided with the college despite the teething problems have offered very good support and the lecturers at the college are always available to help with the apprentices assignments.

At this moment in time I haven't had any issues and have not required any additional support. I have heard from people who have needed support and they have received reasonable support.

Considering this is an apprenticeship and I am well aware of the low pay that the majority of apprentices get my salary is reasonable however if I were living away from home it could potentially be difficult .

There are some company events like the outward bound adventure event which has been organised for next year. Our boss has also organised for us to go gliding as a well done present for the college year. There are leisure clubs available on the base but I have not spent enough time there to take advantage of them yet.

Yes

BAE Systems is a worldwide company that offers a very good opportunity to gain training that would otherwise cost a fortune. Once the training is complete I believe that having the successful completion of this apprenticeship will look great on any CV

MY tips for this apprenticeship would be to make sure to prepare early for the interview and to make sure that you get the college work done as soon as possible to relieve the workload that builds up at the end of the course!