technical apprentice Review

technical apprentice, studying 1 day a week at college whilst in a placement on a rotationary basis for 3 months at a time as I progress throughout scheme, daily make up of designing company products as well as testing old products that need repairing, whilst completing a nvq

I feel I have improved greatly in a business sense with my confidence and ability to present to an audience as well as learning practical skills such as soldering, and electronic measurement testing as well as use of lathe, and mill at college

The work is interesting and different, I have enjoyed working with majority of people I have come across

feel that my work is not recognised, it is often many people who do the least get the most recognition because they make a huge fuss when they do any work and demand recognition

I feel the company is doing its best considering how many of us there are however there have been many issues the company has been too slow to act on leaving us to suffer, for example issues with no college teacher replacements as well as the quality of teaching despite what we flag up months in advance. I feel the support and mentor systems are in place however don't feel they have much impact. I appreciate the difficulty of having the structure organised when there has been so many changes in the apprentice management team but feel improvements are needed quicker than what is happening

plenty of support in place however I don't feel it is very effective or much ever happens when issues raised

my line manager in HR is great with her attitude to any of my issues and will always help me where she can and is always accessible, however may not always be able to get everything done due to being new on the job which is understandable. Placement managers are hit and miss but had more great then bad.

salary has not kept up with inflation and living costs, it would be good if the company covered college parking like many other company's do for the students we study with. despite being advertised as a competitive pay it isn't as similar apprenticeships in the area are paid much more doing the same level course. I feel like the pay scheme aswell as increased needs to be looked at more on terms of how much work will be carried out each year. a 1st year apprentice who only goes to college gets very similar pay to the older years, perhaps adjust this to reflect the work done, drop one increase the others. aswell the company provides a additional budget for graduate training and benefits which we do not get anything like.

many STEM event we are all encouraged to be involved in

Yes

good experience and qualifications gained, a lot of potential to move around and a foot into the aerospace industry

take all opportunities that come your way, and try a mixed variety of placements to further your understanding in engineering.