Mechanical Designer Review

I am a mechanical designer. The main job that comes with this role is to route pipe systems throughout the boats, working with everyone else to ensure it'll work. However, once a system is routed, there are always changes being made and modifications to carry out, meaning work is never done.

During this apprenticeship, I have become a lot more responsible. This is because you're given more trust and made to self-manage. This has improved my time management skills, organisation skills and communication skills. However, I have also gained more financial skills and independency and this has helped with day-to-day life.

When there is work to do, I enjoy it a lot more as I am busy and feel like I am contributing to the workload. However, there is a lot of times when there is little work given and this can be very tedious. It solely depends on what team you're on and what the people are like, as I have had good and bad placements, meaning it is hit and miss when it comes to the extent I enjoy it.

Again, it depends what team you're on and who you're working with, as some people make you feel valued and that you are putting in a contribution. However, as we are apprentices, it is often that we can be looked over and forgotten about, as we haven’t got the extent of knowledge as others etc.

The programme is good in terms of the content, as it allows us to take each step into becoming a qualified designer. There is a lot to get done and so it can be confusing and a little messy at times but we always get the things we need completed and are told in advance what is next.

The support from most of the tutors is great; as they guide us in the right direction and cover the lesson content well, by explaining it. However, there is other times when the subject is not explained properly and we can struggle to understand and when we ask for help, we are told we should already know it etc.

The support from the employer is great. Any training we need is provided as soon as possible and to a very relevant standard. If there are any issues regarding working, there is always someone to contact. The only issue is that if a problem is reported from college, it is not sorted properly and this can lead onto making it bigger than it initially was.

The salary for an apprentice is very competitive as it rises every 6 months after the first year. This makes it increasingly easier, financially. When you come out of your time, the salary increases a lot and is highly competitive for someone the age of 20/21. For my costs, the salary covers it, but I can imagine for someone who has more outgoings, an older adult, they would maybe struggle to start off with.

There are a couple of extra opportunities outside of work, such as the beach clean and STEM Ambassadors. The beach clean was done as part of a community aid project and we all had to take part. The STEM Ambassadors is open to anyone who wants to become one and then you help to open school student's minds to Engineering opportunities. There are also other activities, such as engineering competitions that happen once or twice a year.

Yes

I would recommend BAE Systems to someone who is keen to be in this industry and has the right mind as it is a good place to work in terms of security and qualifications. However, I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who didn’t know what they wanted to do, as there is a lot of time where you're doing nothing and it can be difficult if you weren’t interested in this sort of thing.

My advice to anyone wanting to apply for BAE would include making sure that it is definitely something that you want to do as it is a long apprenticeship and can be testing. Also, I would suggest that you speak to other people who work here and ask what it is like before applying as it will give you a good insight into how things work so you know what to expect.