Trainee at BAE Systems Review

My role involves moving around on 3-6 month placements with different departments around the business. Because of this, my day-to-day activities can change a lot. Most of the placements are office-based and involve working with the team of engineers in the department on their projects and also working on a project of my own relevant to the team. Placements can also involve more of a hands-on role working in production areas with the team i'm currently with.

The main skill that I have developed since starting with the company is my confidence. Talking with different people from around the business and giving tours and presentations has made me more comfortable in these situations. I have also learned and developed lots of skills along the way such as time-management, leadership, and problem solving.

I enjoy many things about my programme. There are excellent support networks in place to support me if needed with things such as placement or education issues. I also enjoy being able to experience lots of different departments, which gives me a good overall view of the business and be able to expand my knowledge and skills in a variety of work and different areas of engineering too.

I am aware that those on development schemes will be valuable to the business in the future, but whilst on the scheme I do not feel very valued by my line manager. However, I feel valued by my peers who are on similar schemes to me. overall i would definitely rate my traineeship high up and i think i am fairly well valued by the company but just perhaps not so much compared to other people.

My programme is very structured with a placement plan for every person on the scheme. Where needed, and if it does not negatively affect anyone else, there is opportunity to change the plan depending on personal or departmental requirements. All of the forms, documents, and information that is needed on the programme is available on our own intranet site.

I am currently on a degree course so my training provider is a university. There is limited support because there are so many people on the same course so most of the learning and support is individually-led. I am also undertaking an NVQ level 4 and the support I receive from this is good. My assessor comes into work and we meet once per week.

I receive support in different ways such as from my functional manager as well as from my line manager, depending on the support that I need. Anything relating to my function is handled by my functional manager and anything general or scheme-related is handled by my line manager. Any support I need is often followed up well.

I am currently looking at renting a property with someone else. I have planned all of the expenses and my pay will comfortably cover these costs whilst also having enough left over to be able to save. My wage increases every 6 months depending on performance which helps to meet my costs. Overall im fairly happy with my pay and i think for a traineeship is it pretty decent!

There are opportunities such as scouting, sporting clubs, social events, and charitable events. Because there are lots of people on development schemes within the business there are always opportunities outside of work to get involved in. I have also been on a few nights out with other people from work of a similar age and also a few department nights out too!

Yes

There are lots of opportunities within the business and the company will support you in your development as long as you want it. There are many other benefits such as a share incentive scheme, pension scheme, and flexible working arrangements. Overall the skills you get are good and these can be used for any engineering-type job too.

Do a lot of research into the company, including the particular business unit where you are applying and the worldwide company. It is important to know what the company does, as well as it's values and beliefs. Think of why you want to be a part of the company and include this in your application. Enjoy the experience and process too of applying and even if you're not successful, learn from the application process.