Manufacturing Apprentice Review

Learning the process of coffee production. Working on the Egron which forms the dried coffee. My day to day roles are taking samples of the product we are producing and performing specific quality tests on it to ensure that it is within our specification and what we are giving to the consumer is what they want! If the product has fallen out of spec I must make adjustments to get it back. Also if any problems occur we have to problem solve to find the root cause.

I have learnt a new side to coffee production in my 2nd year than I did in my 1st. Training to be an operator has helped give me a much more in depth knowledge about the process. By the end of my training on the Egron I will have completed a CBT (competency based training) which means I am trained off on the Egron and can run it alone. I have earned a Level 3 in Food Safety and at the end of my apprenticeship I will have a Level 3 Trailblazer In Food and Drink Operations.

I enjoy the apprenticeship scheme as it allows you to easily move around the site and see different areas of the factory. As an apprentice is means it is much easier for you to try a new area of work if your current one is not working for you. Even though I am an apprentice I am not treated any differently by management or the people I work with - I am just like any other training operator. I have a really great work team in my department that make the long shifts a lot easier.

As an apprentice I do feel as though I get given quite a bit of responsibility when I am given certain jobs. This was something I first noticed. This makes me feel valued as they are putting trust in me.

The structure of the apprenticeship is probably what lets it down the most. I understand that there is difficulty in giving structure to this apprenticeship as there may not always a gap in departments which an apprentice can fill and so sometimes you do not know where you will be going next/if you will move. I find that if you do speak your opinion (if you are not enjoying your current department) that management will do their best to try and move you somewhere else. But I find it is harder to move a manufacturing apprentice than it is an engineering as engineers are going to be engineers and so can do that in different areas of the factory where as it is unclear what a manufacturing apprentice will end up becoming.

At the beginning of my apprenticeship we had a few problems with our training provider/assessor and we didn't have one for at least 6 months. This was disheartening as I was completing work and uploading it onto our online portfolio and it was not getting marked. I therefore did not know whether it was good enough to sign off that unit and was worried I may get a large amount of work to do if they were all marked and were not good enough. Luckily, we now have a different assessor who is really good and marked all of our work. She if very interactive and visits site at least once a month. Her visits are good because it allows you to talk to her about your progress/what else you need to be doing.

I used to have weekly or monthly reviews with my line manager when I was on days, however now I am on shifts I don't really have any. This could be down to the fact that it is difficult to book time in when sometimes I'm off or on nights. I have a meeting soon with my line manager and my shift manager about my progression as I would like to move off shifts before the end of the year. I am hoping this will have the outcome I am hoping for. When I went on shifts I had a problem receiving the correct pay (shift pay and overtime) for 5 months or so. I had to eventually go to HR and one of the HRBPs worked really hard to correct my pay and I have now been paid all of the money I was owed. Without this person I would probably still be owed the money.

I have started temporary shift working whilst learning this part of the process. When on shifts you get a huge pay increase and it allows me to save much more money a month than I could on days. I am looking to move out and get a mortgage with my boyfriend soon and I am worried that my day wage (off shifts) will struggle to cover the bills I will have to pay alongside general living bills and also saving at the same time. However I am wanting to get off shifts soon as I would ideally like my end job to be on days and so I will have to take a large pay cut when I do this, which I am very anxious about.

The apprentices all get on well and sometimes will meet up outside of work which is nice to do! There are company Christmas and summer charity balls which look like everyone who attends has a really good time. There are opportunities for outside events in partnership with the Nestle Academy Team. If you are on your site's campus team and you win an incentive you get to attend a presentation day in York where one team will win a prize!

Yes

They pay a good wage for even apprentices which I was very surprised at and very appreciative of now I am looking into mortgages. I think a big company like Nestle are good to work for as if you work hard you can go far.

Be yourself in your application and on your assessment centre if you get through. The application centre is really relaxed and there is no need to be worried about it. Everyone here is really friendly and welcoming and will make you feel right at home. I was completely relaxed within the first half an hour and I think this really helped me excel in my interview.