Substation Apprentice Review

I am a Substation Apprentice working on a number of National Grid sites. Maintaining assets ensuring they are reliable and still in service for as long as possible. My responsibilities as an apprentice is to ensure I am working to help the team the best I can and also making the most out of the job ie. recording new skills and taking pictures for logbooks, as some jobs come up very rarely.

As part of my Apprenticeship I will gain a City & Guilds in Power Transmission and Distribution. This will give me the important fundamental knowledge to carry out my job role - I'm then able to apply my knowledge to the things I am doing whilst on site. I've also so a number on workshop skills varying from basic hand skills to a welding course I'll shortly be doing. We also do personal development courses such as Communication skills and presentation skills. Course like this enable us to develop further in the future.

Working with a team is a great this as we are all able to develop our knowledge together - whilst still gaining the full support of the company. This also revolves around the company general culture of team work and team development. The course is meet my expectations, and has been enjoyable.

From day 1 I feel we were fully valued by National Grid, we were very quickly told just how we fit into National Grid and the importance of our Jobs in completing the company final goal, which is to provide energy to people in both the UK and US. As craftsperson's we will maintain the equipment which allows the company to do this.

Our Course has been very structured - even before we started we were sent timetables showing us what we were doing each day for that year. Although this has had minor changed made to be provided with a timetable allows us to be able to make plans outside of work for things such as holidays and the days of we want.

I feel we gain full sport for the company and from the training providers used - as they are giving us the skills to carry out our roles, so the way this is shown to us is really important for allowing us to be good at our jobs. The training providers also highly encourage questions, which is good as we are able to ensure we fully understand what were being shown.

I feel my employer is supportive and would have no problems with asking them for help if I felt I needed it as I would be confident in the fact they would be able to offer me the necessary support. There is a vast number of teams you can contact if you ever need them.

I feel well paid for the job I do. As I am able to go and do the things I want to do based on the amount I am paid. As part of my job I do a lot of traveling however this is all a claimable business expense so I am not spending large amounts of money just getting to and from work.

There is event outside of work - there is things such as discounted gym membership at one local to site. As we do live away from home for some of our work times we can ask for taxis to be booked to take us to nearby places which allows us to do things after work.

Yes

I feel National Grid is a good place to work and there is a lot of job security within not just National Grid but the electricity industry, as things change and become less reliant of Fossil fuels, Electricity becomes even more of a focal point, as the primary source of energy.

When applying for National Grid I'd say watch for when the applications become open as National Grid Often opening Months before over companies (Often open around November time). For the interview and assessment days I'd say make sure you do research into the company and the industry. Be open to opportunities and take them when you're given them. Good Luck!