Technical Apprentice at BAE Systems Review

At the moment I am in my 5th of 6 placements which is in Tornado Design. I work as part of a team that deals with quiries that come from our customers. My role is to complete the problems coming in regarding design and provide a solution. This means either making modifications to existing parts or making new ones on CATIA V5 software.

Yes during this placement I have been able to use CATIA V5 software competently and to a very high standard. I am always working on my team and communication skills as these are constantly being used. I have also developed some of the basic engineering skills such as working on machinery on the site and also basic welding and fault-finding skills on material components.

The Apprenticeship is very enjoyable, there is a good variety of work to complete and the people you work with are always accommodating and willing to give up their time to help you progress with your NVQ or personal development. MY work overall is pretty decent and definitely suited to my likes and desires.

I feel well valued the employee schemes such as the Share Scheme and disciplinary Procedures etc. seems to lean positively in your favour providing your actions were justified and not gross miss conduct assumptions are not made and there are a good number of opportunities for appeal before dismissal. As an Apprentice you are pretty much excluded from any Redundancy’s until you are full qualified as you are essentially the future of the company, there are lots of opportunities to put your name forward and get involved in events internally and externally for recognition.

Overall we do learn a lot and the structure of the programme is quite good but can sometimes lack in organisation as things can be planned badly and communication with the training centre can be a struggle at times. If there are any problems though, they are often overcome and do not drag on for too long either.

I receive as much support as I require, meets with assessor can be as frequent as desired and meetings known as LCS reviews are performed every 12 weeks to track your progress and set deadlines etc. during your first year there is always a train provider on section to help with queries check work etc. and when in the business there only a phone call or quick walk away.

My employer supports me a lot and often asks how i am doing or getting on. When moving departments within the business my new supervisor for each department will often give me help and also offer me advice and help with any jobs i am working on currently. If i needed more help i know it would be offered so no complaints here.

In terms of my actual out goings around 30% of my wage covers all my bills bearing in mind I’m still living at home and only really have rent, food, fuel and a phone bill the rest of my wage is spend on my hobbies I imagine if you are trying to afford to a mortgage on a house etc. the wage may seem minimal although in the end it would be worth it.

There are lots of opportunities to put yourself forward make a good impression and get to attend Air shows, Company events etc. if that is what you want to do personally I have volunteered for a few thing and they have always been good fun. There is also obviously apprentice sports football etc.

Yes

YES! Because it’s a superb career opportunity and a brilliant place the work with funded education endless opportunities for personal development it’s also very well paid as an apprenticeship and very informative. They will offer you so much help and you meet a lot of friendly and nice people at BAE as well. Its a great opportunity so definitely worth a shot.

Make sure that your application is very good and comprehensive get someone with a bit of knowledge to read over it to check for wording etc. remember it all goes towards you final score and potential to get a job in the end, brush up on your maths and English there will be a couple of test where you have about 30 seconds per question if your application passes through. Be confident in your interview and dress smart, don’t get intimidated. Make sure you choose the correct career path for you! A Technician is essentially an office based job, craft is on the shop floor you can go from the shop floor the office but you cannot go the other way round remember having shop floor experience will gain respect from others on the shop floor if you do choose to go into a technical role and have to interact with shop floor employees such as design etc. Technicians work a 5 day week (12:30 on a Friday Core time 10:00 to 3:00 mon-thurs core time overtime is weekends only or converting flexi hours) Craft work a 4 day week mon-thurs with the possibility of working shifts in some places 3 day on 4 off.