Measurement apprentice Review

technical engineering apprentice in total vehicle validation and intergration. i am a team member as part of geometrical intigration assisting with analysis activities from a measurement perspective.

i have learnt how to measure a component within a large assembly. validate components and jigs. in my course at college i have improved my welding and manufacturing techniques and also have furthered my knowlege in the theory behind mechanical engineering principles.

i enjoy my work based role and working in my team at work. there is a good amount of job satisfaction that comes with completing the tasks i am given at work. Howebver my experiances at college arn't as satisfying. lots of effort has been put into my college course with poor organisiation from the college and not the same amount of effot is seen back. i still have no idea what is planned for my college activities next year and have had hard work i have completed lost by members of the college and not marked properly. entire units have not been tought however assignments are still expected, self tought, to a destinction grade.

I feel trusted with important tasks in my work and am included by colleagues in the team. this gives me a good deal of job satisfaction. however training has not been given to me for future equipment and procedures despite me being the 'future of the team' instead the training was given to members of the team who have displayed a clear lack of intrest in the future procedures and software.

internally within the BMW group the organisation is good with placements well organised giving me good experiences and contacts for the role i will go into. however the organisation of my college and college course has been awful. i went 4 months without being correctly enroled, two weeks without a login to the computer, 6 weeks without sufficient software required to complete units, 4 months without a tutor for half of my units and am still waiting after over a year and a half for a plan of my 3rd and 4th year course.

i recieve good support from my college tutors towards completing some of the units however some of the units are completely self tought with the only input dfrom the tutor being handing the assingments to us. also getting information from the course organisers or IT support is almost impossible.

I recieve a tremendious amount of support from my employer in the form of contacts that will help answer question, time to do assignments when deadlines are tight and guidence in projects.

i had to move to the apprenticeship and therefore have to rent a flat to do my job. i share my flat with a housemate who is also an apprentice. finantially we cannot afford to live in the area without additional finatial support from family. also my college is a 50mile trip each day adding to commuting costs. the salary seems fair however desgned for apprentices living with their parents rather than on their own. the salary cant cover the living costs in the area making it hard to justify doing the apprenticeship. also earning extra money through overtime isn't possible because apprentices aren't supposed to do overtime. i have to save up for simple things like a hair cut and get made fun of at work because i have scruffy hair.

i socialise with other apprentices and friends made on my college course however cannot afford to do much really...

Yes

because there is a great deal of job satisfaction and the apprenticeship is a good way of getting a good role in the organisation.

only apply if you can commute from home or have a family that can support finatially with living costs. make sure you get as much experience in before applying. research the role and try and get experience in this area.