Apprentice Engineer Review

Rotation around the factory completing six weeks of inspection as current. Day to day tasks include measuring jobs and components that are delivered to the stores to ensure they are fit for purpose to be sent to site. Each day I have to interact with many different people from supervisors and managers to cleaners, there is someone new to meet everyday. My main responsibility at the current time is to assist the stores inspection team with any work that comes in but I am also available to offer a helping hand to any other inspection teams around the facility.

Over my time in the Siemens apprenticeship scheme I have achieved a Level 3 BTEC in Engineering, and a Level 2 PEO in practical engineering skills. I have also completed both internal and external courses in; First Aid, a Safety Passport and Manual Handling. These courses have been beneficial to me not only for working but in everyday life also.

The work I am doing is very interesting and it keeps me in a position where I want to come to work everyday because I want to see what I will be doing/learning next. The employees at Siemens have been very welcoming and easy to work with thus resulting in no problems. The company culture at Siemens ensures that everyone feels welcome and it a great culture to work in.

I feel as though I receive a lot of respect within Siemens from everyone no matter what position they find themselves in, eg. floor managers and also those in higher authority positions. I have great involvement with tasks and the skills that I have are respected and I am allowed to complete work both individually and working as a part of a team.

The structure was well thought out as attending college prior to starting the practical work gives you a background of what you are doing so it is more understandable. The rotation part of the apprenticeship is also very useful as it gives you an experience if all the parts of that factory so tat you know what to expect when it comes to picking the role you would like to pursue.

The tutors / trainers offer a wide variety of support both work related and not work related. They have almost all come through an apprenticeship themselves so they can understand what it is like to be in the position you are in and as they all have backgrounds in the industry they can answer most queries or questions you may have or they will know someone who can.

The support offered from managers is really good, they all seem to want to get to know you and want to help you so it is not a daunting thing to have to go and speak to a manager. They all want you to learn as much as you can as one day you may end up working as a part of their team full time and for that reason they want you to be the best you can be. They is vast guidance and support that can be found around the site and online also.

It covers me well in every sense. I can afford to live my life as I need to, to be okay eg, food, housing, clothing, travel, but it also allows me to have money to be able to enjoy myself by attending social events, pay for luxuries such as a car, and a holiday.

The company has social events for it ran through the workers within the company. For example, there is a football team which trains once a week and in the summer attends a Siemens 'Tournament' where different teams from Siemens bases all around the UK play. There also more events like this in the planning stage for next year. At Christmas there was a voluntary scheme where you could volunteer and deliver 'care packages' or gifts to the elderly, this was a scheme ran by AgeUK but taken on also alongside it by Siemens Newcastle.

Yes

Siemens is a great place to work as you are treated both fairly and appropriately for the line of work you are in. There is a lot to be learned and this is done in my opinion in the best possible way. The apprenticeship scheme ran by Siemens is very organised and allows for you to know where you stand and what your role is at all times, and you can see this through the rising number of apprentice graduates working on site.

Be sure to sell yourself as much as you can in the application process and when you get to the interview stage make sure you have done some research and you know what you are talking about before you go in. Take a small project with you that you have been involved in and that you are confident with as this will get talked about and asked about and takes the time away for the possibility for questions that you may be nervous for. Also a small project is also going to give the interviewer an insight into what you work like and the type of work you are good at.