Track Maintenance Technician Review

My job title will be a Track Maintenance Technician and my daily tasks will be to undertake renewals and general maintenance of the track in my area. I will have a big responsibility as I am helping run the Network which so many people use daily. My main responsibility will be ensuring the safety of myself, colleagues and users of Network Rails railways.

For this apprenticeship I earn many qualifications such as BTECs, NVQs and ILM certificates. The training involves an initial 21 Weeks at Network Rails training facility (Westwood) where they will teach you the theory that is needed in your role. Subjects include business improvement techniques, mechanical principles, maintaining mechanical devices, bench fitting, maths and most importantly health and safety.

So far I have thoroughly enjoyed my apprenticeship with Network Rail as I have met many new people and have had many new experiences that I will draw from in my working life. Again, so far this apprenticeship has actually exceeded my expectations as I have learnt so much already about Network Rail.

I do feel valued by Network Rail as the company sees apprentices as the future of the company.

The first 21 weeks at Westwood are extremely well structured with a very busy schedule that fit sin a lot of different subjects. The training from the instructors is extremely good with no bad experiences. There is a lot of support in place such as Validium which supports Network Rail employees in many different areas.

In the first 21 weeks at Westwood the instructors provide a lot of support in classrooms and take the time to go through things if not understood. There are also Apprentice Development Facilitators who monitor your progress at Westwood and provide support with anything you are struggling with on the apprenticeship scheme.

There is a lot of support in place such as Validium which supports Network Rail employees in many different areas such as financial and family support services. Your line managers can also provide support con things that you might be struggling with at depot and can then put measures in place to support this.

Whilst this was the lowest paid apprenticeship I looked at, the pay is oaky considering for the first 21 Weeks Network Rail provide you with accommodation and food. But compared to other apprenticeships the pay after the 3 years is higher. My current daily costs are mostly train fares and fuel costs for a car but Network Rail employees get 75% off train season tickets.

So far I haven't experienced many outside opportunities but now that I'm at depot more opportunities for training courses will come up which will be added to my sentinel card. Network Rail also encourage volunteering and allow you to have a certain number of days off a year to volunteer that doesn't count as your personnel leave.

Yes

This apprenticeship scheme is a well structured apprenticeship with one of the biggest engineering companies in the UK. This allows employees to have many opportunities to further their skill set and apply them to their work. Network Rail also puts a lot of effort into making sure everyone feels safe whilst at work and provide support in many different areas.

Make sure you are prepared for the interviews with a knowledge on the company as well as a knowing which discipline you want to take such as track or signalling. When at the assessment centre remain calm and remember that I you've got that far that there looking for a reason not to employ you rather than looking for why they should employee you as they've already picked up on your positives. Finally when in the face to face interview it is okay to pause whilst you think of an answer for certain questions.