Technical Apprentice Review

Firmware Technician; I am currently working on producing a entire lifecycled product, the company have given me a section of an actual product and are getting me to produce all of the required paperwork and tasks to a valued standard, with the help of fellow members in the team giving me hints and pointers on how to replicate this work.

I have learnt a huge amount about engineering in general since working here, this include technical knowledge through education such as HNC and HND but also from work on the rigs testing or just being thrown in the deep end with tasks and given abit of a steer towards what you should be creating at the end of it. A skill that has improved a lot is communication, I used to be very scared and shy however now I can go and talk to whoever I need to without much fuss and the amount of stem activates never ceases to astound me with how much the kids soak up you talking, very good at boosting confidence.

the teams I have worked with have been great, even if the work has been dull the teams have been great and only ever felt out of place in my first ever team when I was young and unsure and just left school.

Sometimes you don't feel as valued as perhaps you should, however in general day to day tasks you are as valued as you deserve to be, the more you put in the more you get out.

The programme could do with being abit more structured but myself and a few other apprentices are currently working this out with SLT, the main issue being that our year was around 100% bigger than any other previous year, so I don't think they were prepared for how many of us there was truly going to be.

whatever support is needed is met eventually but it can take some time as the education system is stretched pretty thin at the moment, however whatever support is requested can normally be found.

Lots of support s available, medically they are one of the best companies I've seen taking action for bad backs and raised desks if needed as well as medicals and eye tests if booked. The teams you work with and projects that the company gets you involved with build your understanding and give you a vast network of people across the industry.

The pay is very good for an apprentice however with how expensive housing and living costs are now days I would say that sometimes its a squeeze. However I appreciate that the wage here is very decent for an apprenticeship, just need to find ways to keep receiving pay-rises or incentives such as higher education once the scheme has finished

huge amount of opportunities including company sponsored projects, company sponsored event days for schools to help out with, school and STEM events that work participates in.

Yes

Because its a large local company in a competitive industry and the amount of different tasks on offer means that everyone should be able to find themselves a job role here they enjoy.

Having a hobby linked to engineering and showing positive attitude to self teaching at home is good at getting you noticed and the extra knowledge from self teaching proves that you are very capable at learning on the job too.