Multi skilled/ mechanical engineering apprentice Review

I am a 3rd year mechanical engineering apprentice, my daily work consists of working within the heavy mechanical team, helping the engineers with their jobs as well as developing my skills. I am given independent tasks in the workshop to work on as well as small projects, this helps me develop my independent skills and think for myself rather than following what someone else is doing.

I have developed multiple skills since I started my apprenticeship, My general workplace skills such as communication and how to interact with people have become very strong meaning I can talk to new people easily which is important in the workplace. I have really developed my mechanical understanding as well as tool skills, meaning I know how to do most jobs and understand it to, my theory knowledge is strong from my college courses, improving my skills all round.

I thoroughly enjoy every day at work, I feel that every day is different and I am always being faced with new activities and tasks that I have not worked on before. Working in the mechanical team is enjoyable too, I get along well with all the people and they look out for me. I am able to be confident in what I do and know that I have support to help develop my skills all around.

I feel very valued by GSK, I am always being praised for good work that I do, as well as sometimes being recognised formally in e-mails. I have been asked to help with important projects before as they valued my input and wanted to give me the opportunity to push myself and try my best.

The organisation is good, I have been on multiple rotations in different areas of the engineering team, learning skills and information from all the trades before settling in heavy mechanical. College is fairly organised although sometimes changes do take a while to get explained and happen but this is never a huge problem.

I have monthly meeting with my NVQ assessor to make sure I am doing my work correctly, I can easily get in contact with my assessor if I have any problems and they normally are able to sort them out quickly. My college support is acceptable although they can be slow at organising and dealing with requests but do get them done in an adequate time which doesn't cause problems.

I have lots of support from my employer, my manager has monthly meetings with me to discuss progress as well as help me do the best I can and work where best suits me, any problems I have can always be sorted out by my team leader or if needed my manager, this means I know that I have the support to do my best and can always resole any problems that arise.

My salary is enough to pay all my expenses each month, which includes cots related to owning and running a car, as well as this i am able to save a good amount of money while being left with disposable income to enjoy my hobbies and social life. For my age my salary is good, I can imagine if i was older with more outgoings I would struggle to enjoy a good social life, but this is typical of apprentice wages as they are often aimed at younger workers.

There are many events to take part in outside of work, each year there is the "orange day" which involves helping local charities for the day which is a good communication developing chance. There are also chances to do apprentice talks at careers events in schools, as well as STEM events such as the big bang event, these are great for getting your name about and showing your full potential.

Yes

The GSK apprenticeship scheme is a great chance to start your career, gaining knowledge from coworkers who are experts in what they do. being able to earn a salary while learning and studying is great as it means you don't encounter tuition debts and also learn how to manage money from a young age.

The best way to make yourself stand out is to get as much information as you can on your application form as this is the first point where you will be picked from the rest, make sure to sell yourself and show how the questions relate to how you are and what you're good at.