Operations Apprentice Review

Operations apprentice. This involves adjusting certain processes on a sewage treatment works to ensure that the sewage is treated effectively, and can leave the site to the river without the risk of polluting the river. My curent daily tasks are observing processes, collecting samples and testing them to check that the final effluent quality is up to scratch. If they are not within set guidelines then I will have to adjust the process in order to bring it back into control. My responsibilities are to ensure that the site doesn't go out of consent with the limits which have been imposed on us by the Environment Agency, to work safely at all times, report anything which is broken using the correct methods and to communicate information with my team effectively.

I have learned a lot about both clean water treatment and wastewater treatment. It has given me a fantasitc insight in to what goes on behind closed doors, through the work I have done in college completing the work required to achieve my Level 3 qualification. I have also gained a lot of team working skills, rpactical knowledge of machinery on site, working at heights training, confined spaces training, gained tickets on using specialist equipment and emergency first aid training.

At the start of the apprenticeship I did not enjoy it. I was put on to a program which I did not want to be on without actually being asked if I wanted to persue this particular roll. When I expressed my feelings about this they pressured me into staying on the roll which I didn't enjoy, but I persevered and managed to switch program on to my current role. Once I had switched i started enjoying the work a lot more, as it was something which I actually wanted to persue rather than being put into a program which I had literally no interest in. The team I started working with on-site are very friendly, very knowledgable and helpful with giving me advice on comlpeting my assignments and the team morale is generally very high. While it wasn't the original role that I applied for (Originally applied for maintenance but was put on to operations as the maintenance apprenticeship was full) I have still gained a lot of experience and has met a lot of my expectations. I have also enjoyed the program after switching off the role I didn't enjoy.

I feel very appreciated on site. The team I work with rely on me to do things right, even though I'm still an apprentice. My manager is happy with the work I am doing and has said that I will excel well with my career in severn trent. However, I do not feel valued by the New Talent Team within Severn Trent. Whenever I voiced my opinions to them or told them about any problems which I had with work (especially in the first 7 months of my apprenticeship), they took our concerns on board and we never heard anything back from it. They left it up to the new starters to solve their own problems, which caused us a lot of stress and actually forced some people to leave the apprenticeship program.

Indcution was organised as was the training organised by Severn Trent. the time scales where we shared two weeks of site work followed by two weeks of college worked really well, as it allowed us to reflect on what we had learned while on site, and to take our new knowledge with us from college back to site. The college we went to was a shambles but this had nothing to do with Severn Trent, it was the college's system of managing us which let us down. The original program which I was on was not organised very well. I remember one instance where we went to do a site visit and the manager of the site was not told that we were going to be visiting, so he had to come up with a plan on the spot as to what he was going to teach us.

None whatsoever. We are only told when to show up to certain training events, and when we ask general questions we are often ignored and left in the dark.

I receive quite a bit of suppport from my manager and my mentors on site. I haven't had any experience with dealing with HR apart from the New Talent team, which has been patchy at the best of times. The majority of the guidance I have had with my problems has been from my team members who have previously completed this apprenticeship, as they know what to do in order to complete the apprenticeship. As well as this they are very supportive on helping me develop and are keen to answer any questions that I have.

My current salary in my second year is enough that I can pay my rent, buy food, travel to and from work, buy food and live comfortably with spare at the end of the month.

The company do host a lot of volunteering work which the apprentices can get involved in. This includes going to apprentice shows and talking to schools about getting into an apprenticeship.

Yes

It is a good opportunity to learn so much about something which happens behind closed doors.

The application process and interviews are very laid back while still being professional. Be prepared for a lot of college work and sore fingers from a lot of typing.