Electronic Engineering Apprentice Review

Most of my job role is based around shadowing skilled men. A lot of the time, I am interacting with people in my office and other colleagues around site as I am currently creating a calibration tracking spread sheet for our chamber located in our ESS chamber room. Some days, there will be jobs that I can do (e.g. replacing connectors on cables etc.) however most of my work is shadowing skilled engineers on their day to day roles. At the moment I don't have very much interaction with external companies but that may change as my job roles change.

I have completed a BTEC Electronic engineering ONC and am currently doing my HNC and NVQ. Internally I have also done ESD training, health and safety training, fault finding and measurement courses, manual handling courses and a life skills course. These are all fully paid for by my company and they not only benefit my working knowledge but also my team skills, management skills and confidence in and outside of work.

I really enjoy my programme, I am always very interested and as we do a different placement every 3 months, I get a very good idea of all aspects of the company. All of my colleagues are very nice and eager to help you to learn. It is a very welcoming place to work. The programme betters my expectations and you are presented with a huge amount of support and experience. They are a very good company to work for and will always support you in anything that you need. They listen to your ideas and continually improve their scheme to meet your objectives and goals. They are also very flexible and always try to manoeuvre placements to best suit your interests.

I always feel appreciated at MBDA. Managers and Seniors always know who you are on first name basis and are very appreciative when you can help them out. They always make sure that you are involved (e.g. meetings and jobs) and always ask you for your opinion and feedback o help better the experience for you. We also have external recognition like being put up for awards by MBDA with partnering companies. I am always valued by everyone that I work with and am always made to feel like part of the team.

The apprenticeship is well structured as you begin with an induction with not only your site but others nationwide. The training is always booked and notified before the events begin so that you have time to prepare and if for any reason you cant attend, it is always rearranged. The support system is very good and I feel that I have 100% trust in them that I can talk to anyone if I need help. Task delegation is always good, and I always have work but not too much pressure is put on me so it keeps a healthy balance. We are given time to do our NVQ inside and outside of work so that also is a brilliant support to help us maintain a good work life balance.

Our college is not very good but that is being sorted as our managers in work are being very supportive. Our Manager is very busy trying to manage Bolton, Bristol and Stevenage Grads, undergrads and apprentices so often getting support of our manager can be difficult, however we have other assigned people who we can get hold of on our site (as our manager is Stevenage based). I feel like this could be improved with a better split of how often she is in Bolton to support us or have different managers for each site.

Our manager supports as much as she is available. Our HR team is brilliant and are always there for any support and advise that you may need. Even if they cant answer your question, they will make sure that they either point you to someone that does or they will get back to you. There are plenty of well experienced people that are more than happy to give you guidance with anything from apprenticeship help, external problems and college. General attitude throughout the site is that apprentices are very valued and if anyone can help, they are happy to do so.

My salary is brilliant. Considering my age and living costs, my salary is very good. The location is excellent and my travel costs are cheap in comparison to my wage. I believe that they pay apprentices very well and we are very lucky considering what most apprentices earn. Social events are often paid for but the only events we pay for are they charity events which we are more than happy to dote towards.

There are an amazing amount of opportunities. There are lots of company events that we can volunteer to take part in and we are never forced to do anything we don't want to. We are always asked to volunteer but they take us to Air shows, Open days, school talks, events days and much more. We also can volunteer to do things such as STEM Ambassadors which is supported by our workplace so we have many opportunities to get lots of types of travel and experience.

Yes

It is a brilliant place to work. They support and train you very well and always make sure that you are well looked after. They have a very competitive salary and they are very welcoming,. The job role and tasks that we do are very different to most apprenticeships and they amount of responsibility that they give you makes you feel like a very valued member of the workforce. I do not know of many other apprenticeships where anyone feels this involved in the team. They are very interested in your opinions and will always try and let you use your initiative to allow you to grow and develop with your learning.

The application process, make sure it is from you and that you are very honest as you will be questioned on what you wrote on the application. Interviews, relax everyone is lovely just remember to look smart and be yourself. Always take any opportunities that they offer to you no matter how daunting they seem at the time as you will look back on them being some of the best days that you have had the chance to experience.