Apprentice Aircraft Fitter Review

Apprentice Aircraft Fitter. Daily tasks involve shadowing a skilled colleague and learning the basics of aircraft fitting. I am responsible for carrying out planned staged work under the supervision of my skilled co-worker. I am responsible for working safely and effectively and meeting targets. I am also responsible for hitting targets to complete my NVQ Level 3. Everyday is different, from hydraulic test to installation for example.

Everything i learn is brand new to me, i learn something new everyday from installing hydraulic components, repairing a skin of an aircraft to ground operations. i have learnt a lot about aircraft systems and aircraft manufacture. I am studying a HNC in aeronautical engineering and an NVQ in aeronautical engineering.

I feel highly valued and i enjoy working and the job i do. I have real job satisfaction when an aircraft i have worked on flies. There's a huge team effort here and everyone understands that and its great to be a part of a team. It surpassed my expectations.

As an apprentice we are well looked after by the company and they know we are the future of engineering and we are taught well. I feel highly valued as an apprentice within BAE systems and i believe it's one of the best apprenticeships in this country to get involved in.

We have an assessor who is in charge of the work we carry out NVQ wise. We go to college one day a week to study my HNC in aeronautical engineering. each placement has a structure for apprentices depending on the type of apprentice you are determines the sort of work you can get involved in.

We have access to computers for any work we need to do. We have guidance when we need it from our assessor and also our co-workers. Any problems we have it is very clear who we need to see and when. we swap placements every 16 weeks so its hard to pinpoint someone in our placement so we normally use our training managers.

Our managers are highly supportive as they have once probably been an apprentice themselves. HR don't really get involved until certain stages of our apprenticeships. If we have any problems we have our union representatives and the attitude from the people within BAE systems is good when we need support.

My living costs are quite high as i have moved from a different part of the country to live here. My travel isn't to bad because i have moved closer to the BAE site i work at. the daily costs for food on site are extortionate and are unaffordable for me personally. social costs are to every individual, mine are quite high but i budget for that.

There's many opportunities outside of work to do with air shows being a big factor. We can also become a STEM ambassador and go round schools getting involved in different challenges to promote engineering for our future; something which i am apart of and i have a great sense of pride inspiring others. There are leisure facilities on site including a gym, 5-a-side football and racket sports.When i am not working i am usually restoring old motorcycles as a main hobby of mine.

Yes

Its not a job here, its a career. Its rewarding, good pay and a great set of people work here.

Be yourself, you get out what you put in. the application process is well thought out and is challenging. I would have like to have had a tour round before though so we can see what it was like first.