Engineering Technician Review

As an engineering technician apprentice i am spending my first year in the workshop learning hand on skills. From the start of second year to the end of my apprenticeship i will be spending approximately 3 months in different engineering departments around plant for example product validation, quality and development.

I have learnt alot of new skills in the workshop from hand fitting, machining, welding, electrical wiring and PLC programming. This is for us to be able to obtain a Level 2 NVQ qualification. One day a week for the first year as well we are also completing a BTEC Level 3 qualification as well. In later years of the apprenticeship i will be attending Oxford Brookes University to complete a Mechanical Engineering degree.

i enjoy my apprenticeship because our programme is varied for example we have 3 rotations in the first year: mechanical, electrical and machining. it means we have a wide range of skill knowledge that we can further use in our working career. You are given a lot of responsibility from the start of the apprenticeship so we are capable to lead a team.

I feel valued as an apprentice within BMW Group because we have been given opportunities to help out around plant on charity events and careers event. We have appraisals every 3 months which can lead to pay rises up to twice a year, if we meet all expectations they have for us.

my programme for the first year is college day on a Monday and we are in the workshop for the rest of the week. from the second year onwards we spend most of the time on placement and we can spend upto 2 days a week at a local college studying for our foundation and bachelors degree.

We recieve a lot of support from the training providers, we have BTEC tutors who we spend mondays with and then we spend the rest of the week with specialist workshop tutors, who are specific to the rotation we are currently developing the skills in.

We have apprenticeship managers specific to the level of apprenticeship we are on. We have regualar reviews with them to ensure we are still on track with completing all of our work, both in the workshop and in our BTEC classes. We recieve opportunities to further our knowledge from the employer.

The salary to start with is a little lower than other apprenticeships however, over the period of apprenticeship we recieve regular pay rises providing we are all on track in completing our work and the pay at the end of the apprenticeship is similiar to other competitors in the area, in similar industries.

There are opportunities around plant you are able to get involved with for example, the race team where you can volunteer and help work on a car which competes in the MINI challenge JCW races. We also meet up as apprentices for social activities in the evening and at the weekends.

Yes

i would recommend BMW because there is a good car scheme but also there are no university debts and it is all paid for by the company and you also get paid at the same time.

i would recommend for anyone to apply and to think of tasks that you have completed which could help you stand out from the crowd as they have many applicants for any one role and to be yourself in the assessment centres.