Apprentice signalling maintenance technician Review

I work as an apprentice signalling maintenance technician. My role involves working trackside where health and safety is a major part of the job. I work to maintain tje infrastructure of the railway as part of a team, checking tolerances with quarterly and annual tests and doing maintenance tasks as required. I dont have a set work place because the site we work on can change each day.

I already had an interest in this area so had some prior knowledge but not a great deal. Ive learnt a lot about working safely and have learnt more about the rail industry than I realised there was to learn.

I love the learning aspect of my programme but I strongly dislike the residential side of it and the way information is relayed to us is poor. We are often confused about what is going on. Being at depot on the actual placement side of my role is great and Im really happy there but whilst residential I found some of the staff were very patronising and the environment felt a lot like being at school which for an older apprentice was very uncomfortable.

At my depot I feel very appreciated and valued by my manager and most my staff but the apprenticeship team make me feel very insignificant. It is a case of statistics and if they arent obliged to do something to help they wont. Not all of the staff are this way but most the managerial staff are and unfortunately thats where it counts.

The structure is good in theory but the organisation is terrible. We are given a calendar but are not told what we are studying until we arrive. I feel embarrassed when people ask me what qualifications i am doing on the apprenticeship because I dont know for sure.

Ive not really needed any additional support but generally they are helpful. The apprentice appraisal report system is quite flawed but is generally ignored by tutors unless you do take part in set activities which feels a bit like bribery.

My depot are very helpful and go out of their way to explain things im interested in and to put together study material for us. They are very accepting of us and its a great work environment. Unfortunately the residential parts of the scheme are not so great, some of the staff were great but others made me very stressed unnecessarily and care little about the welfare of apprentices.

Its apprentice wage for the first year so if you are financially independent its not possible. Its pretty typical of an apprenticeship scheme but still makes it a lot harder to cope.

There are staff networks that have events and plenty of volunteering opportunities. Theres quite a lot going on if you can travel a little bit and during the residential part theres a lot if activities taking place, mainly sports.

Yes

It would depend on their situation but i think once you get through the apprenticeship its definitely worth it and the bad points are made up for by the work environment and the job role itself.

Speak to other apprentices first if you can, do your research in various places not just with the company themselves to check its right for you. Safety is critical to the role so its vital to bear that in mind when applying and interviewing and when working the job. Its the one thing above all else they are strict on.