Engineering Higher Apprentice Review

I am a higher engineering apprentice. The first 9 months is spent in the Learning and Development Centre (LDC) where I learnt various skills (mainly practical) some of which included: welding, fabrication, electronics/electrics and CAD. My time in the LDC was cut short to 6 months along with some of my fellow apprentices meaning I have the opportunity of experiencing my first placement earlier than usual. I am currently in Development and am working in a team in the Lombard building (Derby). My team are really helpful and if I am struggling with any aspect of my work they are there to help. Placements last 12 weeks each and vary a great deal however as a higher apprentice I have the option to experience 4 placements in different areas of the company and based on my experiences have a say on where I will finally en up which is great.

Practical skills have improved a great deal from 6 months spent in the LDC. Also, personal skills have developed through training courses provided by the company - such as HPC and Brave me to develop my leadership and confidence.

Overall, I am grateful to be an apprentice working at Rolls-Royce. As with any employment there will be good days and bad days however the motivation to get up and go to work is a lot easier to find working at Rolls-Royce.

I feel very valued to work at the company. With placement, people presume that as an apprentice the tasks that I will be given are minor and insignificant compared to the tasks carried out by experienced employees. However, this is not the case as the tasks I have ben given are of high importance despite having little job-specific knowledge. Of course there will be jobs that need doing which are less important but it is important to appreciate that as an apprentice you are at the very beginning of your career.

The programme itself is well structured in terms of time spent on section in the LDC workshops. However, there was an issue with uploading work for our NVQ 2 due to use of a new system which caused disruption for us but this will likely be resolved for future apprentices. When on placement, tasks are very much localised to you are your team and apprentice development leaders (ADL's) have much less control over what you are doing although you will still have reviews every 12 weeks to check how you are getting on.

Whenever I am in need of information more often than not I can find an answer. Although on placement much of the work is down to you

Most of the time the company will help if you ask of it. The best approach is to take your own initiative and ask as many questions as possible early on.

Salary is reasonable for starting out. Although it is slightly lower than other companies offering the same qualifications, the salary increases quickly throughout the duration of the apprenticeship and once the apprenticeship is complete, as a higher apprentice, the salary increases significantly. I am living at home however apprentices who have moved out from home to live closer (rent) have found this much more difficult.

There are opportunities outside of work such as with the AGA (apprentice and graduate association). Of course, compared to university opportunities are much more limited as you'll be working full time but when you factor in the benefits of an apprenticeship I have never seen this as an issue. Of course, you have a university day release and so the university opportunities still exist if you want them.

Yes

Overall, this is a great company and the experience and confidence I have gained since starting has been amazing. Also, for someone wanting to become an engineer, there are little opportunities that can better experience with Rolls-Royce and a mechanical engineering Bachelors degree (potentially Masters if you really wanted). - That in itself makes a pretty strong CV! I would like to add that I have never been solely interested in engineering. I came into this with an interest in Mathematics and Physics and even if like me you are less interested in the practical side of engineering, this is only for a short period of time and the work is incredibly interesting and challenging once placements start. Having said that, you might surprise yourself in the practical workshops.

The application process is extremely tough. There are a series of online assessments that you will need to pass initially. If you pass, you are invited to the learning and Development centre (LDC) where you will be with many other applicants competing for a place. This is a one day event lasting around 6 hours where you will have a personal interview/presentation (one on one with an assessor) and a technical interview/presentation (also one on one) where you will be given a specific topic - engine related - prior to the interview that you will need to practice for. There is also a team practical task during the day. This is very much based on team skills and leadership rather than being the 'winning' team.