Electronic Engineer Review

As an apprentice day to day duties can vary dramatically depending upon which department you work in and the projects available at the time. Apprentices (although will be less experienced) are treated as real employees and carry the same responsibility to complete the work they are set (including work from collage) on time and to the best of their ability. Day to day duties I have experienced so far include designing new test solutions for the development of new products, helping test new software to ensure its stability and integrity for use throughout the company. One day a week is spent at collage where you will undertake your Technical certificate training to help build your underpinning knowledge of the engineering basics.

Yes!, from the day you start the skills you develop are useful and relevant in everything you do including outside of work. communication and teamwork skills are extremely important for this job role and you will find yourself develop these over time. after your fist year (solely based at collage everyday) you will gain NVQ Level 2 practical engineering training qualifications which allow you progress into your second year (company based) where you will complete Level 3.

Day to day duties can sometimes become repetitive overtime (depending on what project you are working on) however there will be times when you are involved in designing or building something completely new and as a very practical person this is what I enjoy the most. The first year of your apprenticeship which is spent purely at collage with practical training was probably the most enjoyable as it was a chance to develop new friends, learn new skills (lots of them very quickly). Complete all of your work early and you had the chance to either complete an extra unit of work or carry out a project. This enabled you to be completely creative and use all of he equipment that was on offer. (Including a CAD system and 3-D printer). For my project I built a quad-copter.

L3 TRL treat all employees equal and from day 1 you are treated as part of the community. L3 TRL is a very caring organisation and they ensure that all employees are trained, competent, and can work to the best of their ability to achieve the highest possible standard of work (which is important in the engineering industry).

The organisation of the technical certificate programme (collage based work is good) tutors are always ready with the next task for you to complete and are very helpful if you need assistance. The organisation of the rotations that apprentices are supposed to go through inside the business does lack structure. There is no plan available to the apprentice to enable them to see which department they will be working in next.

I couldn't fault the support received from my training provider, they always ensure you are happy, your learning is not being impeded by other learners and that you know how to keep yourself safe when conducting the task in hand. support is available in many different ways including, email, telephone, face to face discussions etc. Thoroughly enjoy training provided by Gloucestershire Engineering Training.

Support provided by mentors is very useful. Apprentices can get to know their mentor informally and discuss any concerns they may have. The HR team is very approachable and are always happy to help. More assistance with compiling NVQ evidence from employer would be useful, you only have 1 review with someone from your training provider every 6 weeks.

The starting Salary for your first year is just above average for apprentices, this was enough to cover the costs of travel which were high for the first year as my daily commute to collage was 32 miles (round trip) busses were expensive and sometimes unreliable. A pay rise was received at the start of the second year as I could now contribute to the success of my company directly. Living costs are covered well and still leaves a little for social events. However it is difficult to save for large costs such as your first cars insurance and learning to drive.

Since joining L3 TRL I have been on a few offsite events which were fun interactive and inspiring for everyone involved. However outside of company hours due to the location most of the people you get to know live miles from my current position and this makes it difficult to find time and resources to socialise outside of work. Friends you made during the first year at collage are also too far away to see outside of work hours with most of them based 20 odd miles away.

Yes

L3 TRL provides you with the opportunities to develop new skills and get involved with interesting projects that ultimately save lives.

Application process- Application was easy, there is even a benefit scheme if your recommended by an employee you know. interviews are relaxed but formal (as they should be) I would have found it useful to have been told that my apprenticeship was going to be solely based around manufacturing and not the wider picture of the entire company. when I applied I asked if they had any opportunities for a student looking for an apprenticeship related to electronics, computing and hardware.