Design Engineering Technician Apprentice Review

My job title is 'Design Engineering Technician Apprentice', with this scheme being 1 of 4 apprenticeships available. The design scheme required 3 highers (or A-levels) to qualify for, and differs from the other schemes in that I am taken primarily through office-based, high level engineering as opposed to workshop testing or production. Regardless, the scheme is very flexible and the jobs I've undertaken so far have included some hands on testing and manufacturing. For the first 6 months of the scheme, we spent all of our time at college and now just do day release every Tuesday for our HND. After which, we have spent every 3 months rotating around different business areas. As an example, I'm currently in Project Management where I'm involved with producing MS Project schedules and Powerpoint slides in order to coordinate different tasks and the teams involved. The work available to me in this current placement is limited, so I take responsibility for my learning and ensure that I spend the remainder of my time learning about various engineering topics relevant to work via the internet. Although it isn't as involved as other placements, project management is helping me to understand a different side to the business. Available in other placements are positions in microwave electronics, radar production, laser production, product test, environmental test and many more.

To begin, lots of new skills have been learnt at college. A baseline learning curriculum is given at college which covers a wide variety of engineering topics. The PEO (our 6 months of full time college) covered lots of workshop tasks such as maintaining mechanical devices, creating through hole electronic assemblies, electrical assembly of light fittings etc, metalwork and softer skills such as project management. At work, these same skills are developed to greater depths depending on the chosen apprenticeship scheme and placements available. But, on top of that, the skills learnt at work can be far more unique such as automated and manual testing or operating environmental test chambers or vibration tables. At day release, HND learning goes into much more mathematical and abstracted topics, revolving around systems engineering. This involves energy calculations, properties of materials, mechanical and electrical quantities, block diagrams, fluid dynamics and more. Personal skill development at work is a key component, with presentations being a vital part of moving between placements and feeding back your experiences.

The programme is very enjoyable, with a scope of learning and development which would be hard to match anywhere else. The qualifications earned through the apprenticeship are useful in whichever career path we choose to take, although it's far more likely that we can make a more lucrative and demanding career by staying within the company long term. The company culture is excellent, with no pressure against taking breaks, great facilities for food, showers to use if using the gym or cycling before work, and enjoying lunch with other apprentices. The flex-time system is fantastic for commitment to sports or hobbies outside of work, for people who may want to work the bulk of their hours on days where the weather is poor, for example. My expectations have been exceeded by the apprenticeship, the variety of work activities and college learning is very broad, with plenty of tools for managing a happy work-life balance so that it doesn't feel like the apprenticeship is 4 years of struggle. On the other hand, college can sometimes feel like a waste of time, too much confidence is given in the learning facility by apprentice managers. Some lecturers are difficult to work with, and the location of college in relation to work isn't ideal. I feel like my apprenticeship would be absolutely perfect given that all of our placements would fully utilise our time, without any idleness where we are pressured to make best use of our time learning about things in books or online. I also feel as if my personal development outside of work is hindered by the fact that I work full time. The possibility of reducing working hours for lower pay doesn't seem to exist, when it feels as if many hours in work are spent struggling to keep busy depending upon placement. Working just 2 hours less a week (35 hrs) would allow me to commit more time to my hobbies in order to stay young and happy, while still allowing me plenty of time in the workplace to achieve what I need to.

Opinions fed back to the apprentice management team seem to be taken on board, although there seems to be a few exceptions where this wasn't the case. Sometimes it seems like [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] is juggling too much, with his new position as UK apprentice manager taking away from his commitment to Edinburgh's apprentices. Recognition by those in other management positions, i.e. project managers or HR, is very good. The culture for apprentices in the company is very accepting, with many of the company's employees starting their career in the same way. Interaction between the apprentices and graduates is limited however, feeling somewhat segregated, but it doesn't take away from the fact that both groups have chose distinct and equally valuable choices. Although we don't have much chance to socialise with graduates through social activities like pub quizzes for example, there doesn't seem to be any anonymity or condemnation. Recognition from your average employee in Leonardo is as expected, you only get the reputation you build for yourself, and a well presented apprentice who has a willingness to contribute will be shown appreciation.

The structure of the programme is good. It's very well organised with plenty of information relating to specific placements given, and plenty of information given from college for us to be able to access all our learning materials and contact lecturers. Unfortunately however, 2 design apprentices have been given placements from an alternative scheme, manufacturing technical. 2 manufacturing technical apprentices held onto design placements despite not getting the school achievements to be design apprentices, and the placements were never swapped between the 2 pairs. This means that the 2 pairs of apprentices do placements, and potentially go down a career path, which isn't reflected by their school achievements and which could affect their final salary. The variation between placement plans isn't extreme, although it's a disappointment that the apprentice management team could allow that to happen. The SVQ is a qualification relating directly to what we partake in within work. The support given for our SVQ progress is very good. Regular reviews are setup with our assessors, and with the apprentice management whenever we change placements so that they can gauge our progress across our various responsibilities.

College is a very enjoyable experience, with the full time 6 months being a really fun and demanding introduction to our careers, which I'm sure all of us look back on fondly. After which, day release can be unpredictable, with new subjects given every 3 months or so and sometimes variations given in the structure of our days there. Of our various lecturers, only 2 presented us with any problems so far, with their style of teaching and level of support being unsuitable for a class of our size and of such a broad range of understanding in their subject. Nevertheless, by persevering to get support and clarification from them on their topics, their issues can easily be overcame. The regard that our various lecturers have held with our apprenticeship and the company we work for is commendable - they take a genuine interest in what our jobs are and try to relate their subjects against what we do in work.

Support given by apprentice management, HR and supervisors in our departments is very good. Each group understands that apprentices are on a learning experience, with questions to ask and a desire to contribute, but are still young people who might be yet to fully develop their social skills and the confidence to approach them with any problems. It's important for everyone we work with to understand that although we've chosen to join an apprenticeship and chosen a direction to take in our careers, we are still young, ambitious, but naive people with our own values, opinions and passions. Some of us are fully committed to our jobs regardless of its demands, and some of us might have regrets about working full time at a young age, fantasising about what could be if we went to Uni instead for example, with more time to chase our personal endeavours. In the latter case, it's important for our employer to never make us feel like our time is being wasted, and that every hour we spend in work, we're really earning our salary, we're progressing our skills, and we're being taxed both physically and mentally to use our youthful energy and get rid of the thought that things could be better outside of the company. We don't have the perspective to know that things might not be better if we went to an extreme and chose to leave, but it's easy to imagine they are when work can sometimes be day in/day out of struggling to stay occupied, or struggling to find the work done interesting. To approach apprentice management with such thoughts makes me feel as if they will question my commitment, when really I just want to live life to the fullest while I'm still young, inside and outside of work.

Costs associated with travel to work and college are easily met. Our salaries are generous enough that some of us choose to run expensive cars or spend a lot on going out. Meeting the cost of renting a flat is also met by a few apprentices, although this might be a push for our starting salary requiring some careful budgeting. Saving money on our salary is isn't very difficult to do, with plenty of apprentices not spending very much and putting a lot away. The fact that 5% of our salary goes to pension and the company matches that with an additional 10% is extremely good.

Apprentice management enlisted us all as STEM ambassadors, which we could have pulled out of if we chose to, but it's great that they signed us up since it isn't a difficult commitment and is a noble thing to do. Being a STEM ambassador simply involves spending an occasional day at a school or other event, inspiring young people about why they should get interested in pursuing careers like ours and making achievements in school in the relevant subjects. It looks good on us, and it helps us give back to our community. We get to choose any events to go to, and any special ones in local schools are communicated specifically to us all via email. In addition to this, the company is involved with a few charities, getting us involved in events such as Ben Nevis climbs, marathons or games nights at work for underprivileged school kids. The company also offers a free Edinburgh Leisure membership for use in swimming pools and gyms around town, which is invaluable. There are also social get togethers such as simple nights out, or quiz nights, which help us get to know apprentices in our own and different year groups.

Yes

Leonardo is a great company to work for. Many of my friends chose to go to uni since it seemed to be plan A and everyone else was, although if they could see what I do at work, my salary, day release, and the greater prospects beyond my apprenticeship they'd probably be quite jealous. In comparison to university, it's an excellent choice to get an apprenticeship for quite a few reasons. And in comparison to other apprenticeships, Leonardo's are above and beyond what someone interested in engineering could otherwise pursue.

Apply well before application closing date. Be honest in your application and communicate the ambitions you no doubt have. Don't stress about the assessment centre, you'll work better with the other applicants if you're relaxed and they'll be assessing you on your teamwork rather than the quality of work. Make the most of your 6 months at college and really enjoy yourself, the PEO isn't too demanding but it does take a bit of work, get it out of the road and spend the rest of the time having fun in the various subjects with the apprentices you might know for the rest of your life.