Food Manufacturing Apprentice Review

This apprenticeship involves the manufacuring of confectionary as a sector of world-renowned company; Nestle. The job title is: Food manufacturing apprentice. A typical day involves attending daily operational reviews, taking part in checking products for quality and control measures and learning how each part of the process works indepth in accordance with a provided workbook. On a daily basis you will interact with both experienced operators on the shop floor and with highly knowlegeable individuals in the offices. Challenges will be set and you will have a definite focus on working around three key areas of safety, cost and quality. For some problems, you may have to get in contact with people outside of the company, for example, as part of an effulent easte project, I had to contact flavour suppliers for details about their packaging and about the product itself as it is marked as being hazardous. It is your responsibility to ask questions and to get as much information about the workings of the machinery as you can; the progression of your learning is your responisbility. In terms of projects, you will aid experienced operators with their individual projects as part of your apprenticeship, but there will be an opportunity for you to carry out your own personal project in the summer months about an area you are passionate about.

I am working towards a level 3 apprenticeship, developing my skills in the workplace after completing my a levels. Internally, the manual and work-based learning works extremely effectively in increasing knowlege about the area you are working in. Externally, we attend Kirklees College in Huddersfield, teaching us the theory behind the operations we carry out daily. I have learned that it is vital to practice what you learn - the more you can have a go at carrying out an operation, the better.

I enjoy every part of my programme to its fullest extent. Work is always a pleasant experience, with friendly colleages and a happy environment. My team is very helpful and supportive of the scheme and Nestle looks after me very well. It exceeded my expectations.

As part of Nestle, I feel very appreciated and valued as I believe that every one does; the manager always makes an effort to show this. The tasks and projects I have been involvved in are always recorded and are discussed with full recognition given to the individuals.

In terms of organisationm the programme could be a little better structured. As this is the first time the programme is being run, not every one is sure of the logisitcs or how we fit in to the factory; some days we are not sure where we are meant to be working so a clear, consice overview of our plan for each month would be a brilliant resource to have. Other than that, the support given from all at the site is immense and the team is delegated tasks evenly and fairly. Induction before the course went smoothly and it gave us a chance to meet the rest of our team and some others who were starting at the same time as we were.

In terms of support from Kirklees college, this is lacking and could do with some improvement. We rarely receive emails from our tutor telling us any information we may need to know and he is not readily available to give help or guidance. As he is based in Huddersfield and only see him for college 3 times per year, I feel that he cannot support us sufficiently to establish a good working relationship.

The support I receive from Nestle is huge, the human resource team are always available to help and the manager ensures we are always provided with enough relevant inforation to help our learning and takes care of the pastoral side of things. Our mentor is always supportive of us and aims to help at all times possible.

The salary we are paid is fantastic for an apprenticeship. It meets my costs perfectly and pays for my loving costs, my travel to and from work, my daily costs and is able to fund my social costs also. It meets the standards of payments for the location of North East England. In terms of working away, we are paid back any expensed for food or travel so this is also and extremely positive aspect of the company.

In terms of opportunities outside of the workplace, there are plenty of voluntary initiatives to increase Youth Employment within Nestle in terms of apprenticeship schemes. This is to entice the local community into getting some information about the factory and all of the possibilities it has to offer in terms of graduate and apprenticeship schemes. There is also a new gym which has been built for factory workers to use in their leisure time.

Yes

It has been the best experience I could have hoped for; I work in a place I love with amazing people who inspire me to strive for the best I can and im getting paid a very very good wage. The opportunities for an apprentice within the factory are huge and I hope to progress through the apprenticeship and through many more roles within the factory to acheieve my best potential.

Advice I would give is to not give up too easily and to go into all situations with a positive outlook. Look forward to interviw days and think of it as an oppertunity to show someone that you're the best they can get. In terms of assessment day, don't worry - the company is there to help you! If there is anything I would have liked to have been told, it's that, although Nestle is a global company and can seem daunting at first, the factory and the people within the factory will become a family to you and it really isn't scary at all.