Technical Apprentice Review

I work with the product support team in Rochester service centre. The function of the department is to repair or modify customer units from commercial aircraft. There is a ten day turn around here which make the work very fast paced and requires great organisation to run smoothly. My role in the product support team is to support the workshop with any issue that they cannot solve or run low on time with. I also have to assess units that have returned within 12 months of service to diagnose if this issue needs investigating. When unit require investigation we then contact the customer and ask if they would like re-work completed, the unit released or additional thermal testing completed. It is then our job to complete any additional testing if required before passing on results to the customer. I attend college 1 day a week at Midkent college.

We use ATSs (Automated Test Stations) to test units when they arrive. There are two different type of ATS and I have been trained on both of these. I know how to run full tests as well as individual steps, as well as dismantle certain adapters so that they can be passed into the thermal chambers for additional testing. All of the work that comes in is logged on a system called Oracle, this tracks a unit through its visit to the workshop. I have been trained how to use this as well as MES and many other processing procedures. MES is a piece of software that we can put entries into, stating what work has been completed on the workshop. Once I have completed testing I have to write what I have completed and the results. I have developed upon my fault finding skills throughout my time in this placement by testing units and diagnosing faults.

I enjoy the programme greatly and have throughout. My role has a good balance between paperwork and testing. I like this balance as it make the day varied. The fast pace of the department keep me on my toes and means that I am never bored, even during quiet moments we use this time to improve systems which we have some issues with during busy times. I have enjoyed my time though the programme as I have been able to work with many different departments and learnt so many skills along the way. I have been in a few placements where I have not thoroughly enjoyed the work given to me but I have still pushed thorough this.

I am coming to the end of my programme but I have not felt like an apprentice for the past year, this is due to the trust and involvement within my department. They treat me as a member of the team and trust me with important day to day tasks. I have also seen this appreciation show by these people during my reviews and I am happy to see this.

The programme is structured very well. We are given an introduction off site to teach us the skills that we will be building upon before we are put into our placements on site. This allows us to build a good base layer of knowledge rom which we can build upon when put into our various roles. We have various reviews throughout the programme and given many opportunities to ask for help or suggest improvements. I felt that the college course was not organised very well, the college seemed low on staff and we often had lessons with no teachers. This made the course rushed and feel like I am taught to pass rather than to learn. Luckily I learn more skill in my placements due to their nature which has easily prepared me for my career ahead of me.

Overall I have reasonably enjoyed my time at college but that does not mean it has been a good training provider. As said before the college seems underfunded and always low on staff, meaning we often had no tutors for lessons. This sometimes puts us behind and made the work rushed. The lessons seemed be taught just for us to pass rather than to learn. For example we would often be taught something at the beginning of the lesson and given the assignment question at the end of the lesson, we would not look at what we learnt that lesson again. This allowed us to get good grades and pass the course but it did not teach us well or allow us to absorb the information. I am currently waiting on marks back from my previous topic and an assignment that I handed in over a month ago. I feel that this is not fair as we push to work 4 days a week, attend college 1 day a week and complete assignment in our own time to strict deadlines which some assessors take months to mark our work. These issue have been flagged up but are often ignored or seem impossible for those told to solve as the issue is due to funding. I said I have enjoyed my time at college still and this is because it is a nice change of scenery for 1 day of the week and I often find it less strenuous to working in my placement due to the fast pace there.

As I explained before I have frequent reviews with the training teams and my supervisor. During these reviews I am asked if I need any support in all matters. I have not required any additional help but I have often used these times to show my concern about the college course and provider. They have always shown consideration to these concerns and tried to help where possible.

I can cover my costs but sometimes feel that I am a bit low on money and cannot do some thing that I would like. I understand that due to my qualification my wage will be lower during the programme but also feel like my work levels meet those around me who are on substantially more. I know that this is often the case and cannot be easily solved but It cant drop moral at times. My largest cost is my car and travel, this is due to my age and cost for a car a still substantially higher, this cost means that I do not earn enough yet to move out from my parents house, and I wont be able to for a few more years.

There are many opportunities outside of work and I have been involved with many of them myself. I work with ETW (Engineering Taster Week) last year, which involves inviting 40 children in year 12 from local schools onto site and giving a taste of what both engineering is like and what BAE systems is like. This was a great experience and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I was also lucky to be involved with an ice breaker session during bring Your Sons And Daughters To Work Day, this involved talking to a small group of the visitors and asking what they do at school and my day to day tasks involve. I have visited a few schools and a university to talk about the apprenticeship and how I have progressed through the scheme. I am an Explorer Scout leader for a local group and have been doing this since the start of the apprenticeship and will continue to do so.

Yes

I have enjoyed my time with BAE systems and It has given me many skills to help me in my career. These skill are also backed by the appropriate and equivalent qualifications for me to progress. I am not considering leaving the company at the moment but I feel confident that if I wanted to or had to I could find work else where. This gives me a great piece of mind and not worry when economic issues arise. I would recommend BAE Systems to a friend because of all these reasons, as well as how friendly and helpful the people I have worked with have been. It is a happy and friendly environment to work in.

I would tell them to show interest in the company and the things it does during the application process, as well as showing clear examples of skills that make an engineer. Skills like thinking out the box, team working and problem solving. During the Interviews I would advise them to be keen and show them skill I have spoken about as well as being confident. The course is designed to teach you from scratch and so they look for the right type of person more than their knowledge. So for example some one who shows that they are keen to learn and work hard would stick out. The beginning of the scheme can seem slow and isolated as you are off site for 9 months, but this is essential in the learning curve and soon changes when you arrive on site. It also gives you time to integrate with the other apprentices and HR team before coming on site, making the experience easier as you already know a few familiar faces.