Higher Technical Apprentice Review

As a technical apprentice, my time is spent in rotations between different departments, mainly engineering, field services and manufacturing (factory). This means that I get to experience a variety of different tasks and activities every day, every week etc. As of now my time is being spent in engineering, in which my tasks can consist of setting up, configuring and testing electrical equipment and products, to filling out documentation, using advanced software and many other tasks.

I have learnt a lot of new and developed engineering-related and problem solving skills both through my college courses and the company program. I have gained a lot of on-the-job experience which has allowed me to learn and understand things that I didn't know before.

I enjoy the work I do for my company as not only do I gain knowledge and experience on how tasks are carried out in industry, but also because it makes me feel like I have contributed towards part of the company's success. The atmosphere, company culture and people I interact with everyday make working a lot more enjoyable too as people are friendly, pleasant etc. There is also a good mixture of tasks, and not every boring task is lumbered on apprentices.

The fact that people are taking the time out of their busy schedules to teach/show the apprentices something and help with tasks shows that we are valued, along with getting us involved in current projects and tasks.

At the start of the programme our rotations into the departments were delayed due to issues with the college which meant there was time spent only doing college work. However, since the problems were solved we were given a stronger plan of where and when we would spend our time. There are also regular meetings carried out where we discuss our progress and review what we have done.

Since the start of the apprenticeship there have been many problems with our college (Bournemouth and Poole) including: putting us on wrong courses, poor communication with the company and general incompetence. We have received very little support from the college about these problems. These were all because of the compulsory lower level (2) courses we had to undertake. The higher level (4) course we take at the college we have not had such issues with.

Any problems we have had, either with the college or other, we have had immediate support from our manager or other staff to help solve these problems. We have also had regular meetings with our manager about how we are doing at the company and whether we have had any more issues etc.

The salary meets my costs well.

There are many company events in which we have had the opportunity to attend if we wished.

Yes

Because it is a great opportunity to get on-the-job, industry experience while getting paid to learn. You are treated very well as both an apprentice and an employee, with good job benefits and positive work culture. Anyone with an interest in technology and/or electronics should enjoy working for such a company as they will get to learn a further understanding of how things work and how work is carried out in an engineering environment.

Show a keen interest in engineering and technology. Show that you want to learn more about these interests. Be yourself.