Mechanical Engineering Apprentice Review

I am a Mechanical Engineering Apprentice, daily I work on pharmaceutical plant working primarily on planned preventative maintenance and occasionally on non-routine breakdowns.

Online courses are completed regularly. Asbestos course NVQ level 2 in general engineering at merit level learnt a good mechanical engineering overview and gained a lot of confidence on the way.

Very enjoyable, working as a team we are able to have a bit of fun whilst getting the job done, the work culture at GSK is very good and they promote safety and product quality so if I was to encounter an issue i know that it is ok for me to stop the job and get it resolved, even if this has great costs to us, as patient focus and safety are the two main priorities.

I feel that GSK put a lot of faith in the apprentice program and believe that we are the future of GSK Ulverston going forward. Everyone I have encountered on site has been really positive and helpful towards me and the other apprentices

Very well structured now, we spend friday afternoons with our apprentice manager and complete powerpoints to present to eachother throughout the week. We go to college to work on our HNC on thursdays and get 4 hours a week to complete assignments at work and the rest is done in our own time. We also go on national GSK events such as a week long outdoors event at Eskdale

Gen2 our training provider will try help whenever I ask and provide support when they can. Since we got an apprentice lead the support I receive has greatly increased and if i have any questions or need help I know he will be able to.

As said my apprentice manager provides the best assistance and supports anything ive ever asked. More help from everyone else is always just a question away

The salary started very well however the pay increases have not matched the increases of apprentices at different companies in the area.

Community work GSk do is very good, we also do orange day events in which we spend a day every year on a project for the community. We also do social things such as an apprentice vs rest of site football game.

Yes

Good company to work for, they treat apprentices very well and have very good work ethics and very high integrity in everything they do.

Try give yourself the best chance by taking opportunities such as volunteering and any work experience possible to make yourself stand out as gsk get a lot of applicants. also research GSK as a company and try relate your application and interviews back to the gsk policy and standards.