Technical Apprentice Review

I am a 2nd year technical apprentice with BAE Systems Rochester Site. I am a member of the council, holding the role of SHE (Safety Health & Environment) Rep for the apprentices at the Rochester Site. As 2nd year apprentice we spend our time rotating between placements within the company. These different placements introduce us to different tasks and challenges as well as a wide range of different people. Working with electronics is something I love doing and am very grateful for the opportunity BAE has provided me with. As the SHE Rep of the apprentice council it is my job to communicate with the other 2nd year apprentices, as well as the 1st and 3rd years to gauge any health and safety concerns they may have. I conduct regular audits off site of the training centre the 1st years attend and keep an eye out for anything that may be out of sorts on site as well.

I am a few weeks away from completing my BTEC Lvl 3 and am half way through my NVQ Lvl 3. I have learnt so much more about electronics over the last 2 years; but not only this, this apprenticeship has given me more confidence and the ability to believe in myself more!

Here every day is different, and I love it. The job here covers a wide range of tasks from working on large mechanical items through to the fault finding of the tiniest components on huge PCBs! It's great here. Everyone here is always very friendly and willing to help out where they can if you have any troubles at all.

As a 2nd year apprentice we jump around between placements with different teams and projects, and these placements last between 6 - 8 weeks. With this in mind, every placement I have been to I have been welcomed with open arms to become a part of the team. During meetings my opinion is always valued as an equal to any other member of the team and managers will listen to my point of view as they would any other employee. It's a great feeling! The feeling of value I receive only makes me want to work harder for the team.

For every new beginning, there is an induction to the area/project/team/unit whatever it may be. Which is really helpful because it gives us an insight in to what we will be doing over the coming weeks. One day of the week is always set aside for us to attend college. There is a department here on site dedicated to training - and any issues we have we can go to our contacts there at any time. For any required training a date is arranged that suits both parties - it is a very well organised scheme.

Tutors at college are always on hand to give some help with any work I may be struggling - as big or as small as it may seem. Tutors are happy to stay behind to spend a bit more time with us if any one of us is struggling a bit with a particular topic.

Everyone around me is always supportive - Team Leaders, Managers, Training Managers, Tutors and colleagues alike. The most valuable support comes from the ex-apprentices who have already been through the programme and have now fully integrated in to any one department. They are always on hand to offer advice, tuition and the voice of experience!

Compared to some of my friends in other apprenticeships, I have to admit that the pay is not as great as come others; however, having said this the care and attention that the company and managers pay to us far outweighs that of any other apprenticeship I have heard from. I have more than enough money keep myself afloat for now, knowing that the salary will greatly increase in 18 months' time when I am fully qualified!!

There are some amazing opportunities whilst working with BAE, including apprentice innovation challenge and world skills challenge. These two challenges pit apprentices against each other to see who can come up with the best idea to suit a need; and then plan, design, build, test and qualify it. It's an amazing experience that should not be missed!! Further to this, there is an internal competition called Design Appreciation in which every year the current the 2nd year apprentices are split in to two teams and pit against each other to design and build a working product to suit a specified requirement. All of the department managers on site come to the presentations and it gives each apprentice the chance to showcase his/her skills.

Yes

Of course I would!! And in fact I already have. If you've read the bits above, I think it's pretty clear how strongly I feel about this apprenticeship. This is a world class apprenticeship with a highly respected world renown company that gives brilliant opportunities that I could never otherwise have hoped for!

Hints and Tips on getting in? Get a bit of experience behind you first - something, anything. Even if it's just a week's work experience with an engineering/electronics/electrical company - it looks great on your CV and really makes you stand out from the crowd. When it comes to the interview, relax, be yourself and sell all your skills to the person interviewing you. I'm 21, and I am loving every minute of this experience. My only wish? That I had heard about this apprenticeship sooner.