Junior SQA Engineer Review

During my apprenticeship I did 8 week stints in various different departments however the 'day-to-day' roles never really changed. They were always small little jobs that no-one else really wanted to do. Rarely did I, or others in my year, get given an opportunity to really sink my teeth into a task or project. Due to this I always found myself searching for tasks to complete rather than actually being given the trust to complete things that were relevant and needed. However because of the reason above of moving through different departments, you do gain a reasonable knowledge of how the business as a whole operates.

There are no new skills that I have developed during the apprenticeship as due to completing A-levels and completing a year at college, I had a good base knowledge of how business' operate and general engineering. One main skill I have developed is my soft skills in regards to communication, being able to understand how to talk to different personalities is a great asset to have and one needed in this company.

As much as I didn't get a massive opportunity to get some good 'meaty' tasks, each team that I went and worked with were very open and wanted to teach you. This gave me the drive needed to go out and search for tasks I could use this knowledge on. Employees as a whole are helpful and friendly. It has met my expectations as it has enabled me to move from student to a worker while also giving me qualifications along the way. Due to the people in company and also the colleagues at college during the NC and HNC, I have enjoyed my time at TRL.

This is and always has been an interesting question with regards to current/past apprentices at TRL however it is slowly starting to get better. During your apprenticeship as mentioned above, you never get given a proper and meaningful task to complete as these are always done by 'competent' employees. Even after the apprenticeship finishes you still feel like there is a glass ceiling above you, restricting you from progressing further within the company and still being treated as an apprentice (regularly still get called an apprentice even having finished and securing a full time job last year). The one saving grace is that it is starting to get better and managers are starting to understand that we are not free labour and we are there to do a job just like everyone else is and with a small bit of training, we could easily take on larger tasks.

First year of the apprenticeship was spent at college, all of this was sorted and ran fluently without any problems. Going into the second year of the apprenticeship, again everything was sorted with which departments we were going into and when we were rotating however PC's were not setup and access to documents was heavily restricted. The 3rd and 4th year were when you had to decide where you wanted to end up after your apprenticeship however there was not much structure around this part, but in respect it would be hard to arrange when you don't know where the apprentices want to end up...

I cannot fault the training provider used, the were spot on in all departments and the support given to complete the NVQ while full-time at work was great.

Support received from TRL was 'ok'. The answers above will give the answer to this question...

The salary has always been disputed and is starting to slowly increase but only at the rate of inflation. The first years wage is competitive with other companies but tails off quickly and upon finishing the apprenticeship the wage is heavily below average for how qualified you are.

There is a company offsite each year with occasional activities scheduled as well however these are mostly for charity. This isn't a bad thing but it is limited. There is a benefit scheme in place to give discounted memberships to certain gyms and leisure centres but even still, the scheme is lacking when compared to competitive companies.

Yes

It is a good base to start your move into the working world from completing school or even university, but I am of a firm belief that upon finishing the apprenticeship there is not much holding you to the company due to not being valued enough and still being treated as an apprentice.

Show your true colours and don't hide any of your future aims or goals, the sooner you say what you want out of the apprenticeship the sooner you will get there. Also, if you get told that the programme you are being offered isn't the one you want but there is 'opportunity' to swap into the role you do want, do NOT sign on the dotted line... Find the one that you want from the beginning and don't hope it will change.