Craft Apprentice Review

My placements and the tasks in them change very drastically so my time as an apprentice here, I do not have a day-to-day role. My most experience is within manufacturing however, so I will get in for 07:00 and start building a unit of some description and carry on with NVQ work through out the day. I then finish the day at 15:30.

I will have a level 3 extended diploma at the end of my apprenticeship. I have completed IPC-JSTD_001 and IPC-610 course, which give universally recognised qualifications- they included inspection and judgement of soldering and other relevant work processes. I have learned to solder almost exclusively through this apprenticeship and my skills have improved massively.

I enjoy being given actual work to do, rather than example projects, as I really have to put my all into it as it is going to a customer. I really like the people who work here as well, and I find them easy to talk to. I also enjoy working with the other apprentices as they are of a similar age.

Once I had obtained the skills needed, I was then given actual work to do and this shows they value me enough to trust me to take on that responsibility. We have apprentice presentations every other month and these are an opportunity to show most of management of how you are getting on and any problems can be brought up.

At the start of the apprenticeship, I had an induction but from then on, progress was very slow with the training I needed. It took months to get the mandatory manual handling and health and safety course sorted. I have also missed out on a few placements as the company though the apprentices were returning from college (a block) sooner than we actually were . Now I am well into my apprenticeship, everything seems sorted out and everything is running smoothly.

Any questions I have, I can ask my apprenticeship manager and this can be done at nearly anytime as they are reachable through a number of ways, e.g. Phone, Email. I have 12 week reviews where I also have the chance to bring up any problems or request any addition support I may need.

Once again, any problems I have, I can talk to my apprentice manager. I can also talk to my line manager if the problem is relevant to the work, area or just in general as well. if I need more time of college or NVQ work, they can allow me time to complete it rather than do the work I was given.

It allows me to live comfortably at the moment as I still only live with my parents. It allows me travel without any problems and have a good out of work life. It competes very well with other apprenticeships within the first year, but not so much through the rest of the years.

There are plenty of 'enrichment' activities that you are encouraged to do; these can include: charity related events, open evenings at colleges and schools, and community work can all be done through the company. Many of the employees see each other outside of work for activities such as bowling and golf and the opportunity to join is always there.

Yes

It is a good place to start in the industry and they give you the training you need. You can also progress your way further up within the company as some of the apprentices have done.

Make sure that you know what exactly Leonardo do for the interview so you can relate any questions to the future work you will do, and so you know if you will actually like working here. I would have like to have been told about the amount of 'enrichment' activities that you are expected to participated in.