Application Group Technologist Review

The job title i now have after i have finished my apprenticeship in application technologist. Daily interactions internally would include speaking with the quality department, the manufacturing team, planning, finance and perhaps warehouse. Externally to the factory but still within Nestle, there is a lot of e-mails, phone calls and telco's with colleagues in head office in Gatwick (UK) Product Technology Centres in Switzerland and other factories across the world that manufacture the same or similar products to ourselves.

There are many opportunities within Nestle to attend a number of training courses. there is a lot of food safety and hygiene courses ran on site as we are a beverage manufacturing site so this is very important to use. During my apprenticeship i recieved a foundation degree in dairy technology and also a level 4 diploma in food and drink manufacturing excellence. There are a number of leadership courses ran within Nestle across different sites which i have been given the opportunity to attend and also a dairy technology course in Switzerland.

I enjoyed my apprenticeship programme very much, as it was a new apprenticeship we were unsure what to expect but following on from since myself and a colleague joined this apprenticeship has continued and also is now done across other sites within the UK. I was based in manufacturing but had a lot of interaction with a lot of people from different teams.

As i became more knowledgable of the plant and started to get more involved with tasks and small projects i felt that my value grew. During the apprenticeship there is a training period to understand the process which is essential, but once this was understood the more involvement i was able to contribute. There is good recognition from my manager but also from other members of the team.

The structure of my apprenticeship was very good. As it was a new apprenticeship for Nestle it was good because it gave us a lot of options and different routes to choose, if something wasn't working we would be able to raise this so that the apprenticeship in following years could be more tailord. The training / education was well structured, it was mainly distance learning but we did go to college every 6-8 weeks for practical sessions and to speak with our tutor. Also we had regualr meetings with both our training manager, mentor and production manager so the support was always there and very helpful.

As we were distance learners we got a lot of work sent to us through e-mails and left on the university page for us to log in and work through, however we did go to the college every 6-8 weeks so this gave us the opportunity to rase any quries or trouble we were having.

There was a lot of support from our employer. This steamed from our manager, training manager and mentor. This was done through regular meetings and everyday conversations about how we were getting on. It was well structured and planned out and the time was set aside for us to do college work. The attitude was very positive to support us.

When i joined this apprenticeship programme i felt that the salary / package was very good for someone of my age and the tasks i was being asked to perform. I felt happy with this package and it was well strucutred in that it would increase ever year within the apprenticeship scheme.

There is now a local committee set up within the factory that is made up of exisiting graduates and apprentices. This gives them the opportunity to decided what is published in the factory weekly bulletin and gives all employees the chance to get involved within the community. This includes the bonfire and fireworks show in the village / working with local schools to use the fitness studio and gym / setting up stalls at village fates to promote the Nestle brand and discounts to local shops and restaurents within the village.

Yes

It is the laregest food and drink manufacturing company worldwide which offers great opportunties for employees. There are a number of sites within the UK and abroad which allows the possibility for re-location within the company. It has a lot of big names brands including Kit-Kat, Nescafe and Purina.

I would just suggest preparing in the same way that you would for any interview. First impressions can be important, doing some research about the company is always a good idea as it gives you something to talk about or to ask at the end and finally be prepared to talk about yourself and your previous experinces.