Technical Apprentice Review

Assembly Apprentice, currently working on fitting wheel arch liners and wheels, work with 2 other people, responsible with fitting rear liner and wheels. Same jobs/tasks everyday, starting to feel quite monotonous! Attend college 5 days a week from 9 - 5, however in school holidays I come to the plant and complete activities said above, work starts at 6 and finishes at 2:30

Developed more skills at college so far, learnt how to use the lathe, weld, mill and technical drawing skills. The qualification that we are working towards is called mechatronics and we're obtaining a level 3 BTEC and a HNC in this. At work, we are learning less academically, as stated above I am currently learning to fit wheels and wheel arch liners. Overall, I am learning plenty of new skills

I thoroughly enjoy the programme, both at work and at college. I enjoy work because what I am currently doing is a brand new experience and atmosphere for me, which required me to adapt. Everyone I work with is friendly and helpful, this is also at college, where I get on with my fellow apprentices. The only thing that did not meet my expectation is the how unprepared college were for us for example, not having lecturers 5 days a week.

I somewhat feel valued by the BMW Group. On our first few trips to the plant (during October half term and the Christmas break) we were sort of left on our own with no aims/objectives to be able to complete over the week, our manager didn't really come to see us over this week to see if we were getting on ok. However, at the moment we are doing more work and I feel more independent at the plant and feel as if my improvements have been recognized by both colleagues and managers.

The programme is relatively well structured, our induction trip to Skern lodge was a good way to remove tension and become friends with the other apprentices. The college structure has been mediocre from the start, we have not always had lessons 5 days a week, and the our college representative [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] left abruptly so we have not had many reviews about college. Work is slightly more structured at the moment.

The training received at Chichester college is average, the majority of our lecturers are well trained and can teach well, however, one of our lecturers (which is arguably teaching the more important courses) is not good at all, and I am struggling in his classes and not receiving any help. We are also pushed for time in some lessons and I feel like we will not be able to complete all the assignments in the time we have left.

Support we receive from our employer is better than that of what we receive at college. HR is not as brilliant as I'd expect as there was a slight issue surrounding parking permits and we have not received any payslips for the last few months. However, in the working matter we receive decent support and are asked frequently about how we are getting on with the work and if we are struggling with anything.

The salary we receive is very good, I am just too frivolous with my money! We earn around £1100 a month, this easily covers my rent (£200) and travel costs when at college, however with work it costs more as I drive and usually have to fill up every week around £35 to £40. The salary is also set to rise in August to £16000 and a bit, this is a much more comfortable salary and will allow me to save more each month.

As there are ten of us on the same apprenticeship course, we have become a close group of friends and we arrange plenty of outside of work activities with each other. A few of us attend the gym at Chichester College. However, at work I am not sure of any extra curricular activities as we have not been told about any. It would be nice to receive some extra information about this to get along better with colleagues at the plant that we do not see as often.

Yes

There are very good opportunities within the company to excel in to many roles at work. There are also opportunities to travel the world with work, I also really enjoy what I am doing.

Go to the interview prepared and do not fear, go full of confidence and be yourself!