Engineering Technician Apprentice Review

The role of an engineering technician apprentice can vary. This depends on what type of work your current placement involves You spend the first year of your engineering apprenticeship working within the apprentice training school. Here you spend around 7 weeks on each practical workshop to gain the necessary engineering skills that are needed when you go out on site. The work at the training centre includes work such as: aircraft fitting, fabrication, 2D CAD, machining (lathe and milling) and electrical. This means that the work on a day-to-day basis can vary. When you complete the first year of your apprenticeship, you start your placements on site. Being a technician apprentice, you move around a few different technician roles within the business. This gives you a real understanding of what you would like to do for full time work when your apprenticeship is completed. The different types of technical placements that you will experience are: Design Experience, Systems Test and Control Experience, Manufacturing Engineering Experience, and Customer & In-Service Support Experience. My current placement is the Design Experience placement. This means that I am assisting with design activities for the electrical side of Typhoon on a day-to-day basis.

Throughout the apprenticeship you are completing both practical and theory qualifications. Gaining both on and off the job experiences sees you complete your NVQ work, and attending college on a day release sees you complete the theory side. The theory side of the apprenticeship starts off with a diploma in aeronautical engineering, and can be supported right through to do a degree. There are many internal training courses throughout the apprenticeship. These training courses help you complete your apprenticeship to the best of your ability. The basic engineering skills are picked up within the first year of the apprenticeship. Once your first year is completed, it is just a case of expanding theses skills in a real working environment. Personally, being one of the younger apprentices, I feel although I have become much more mature and confident working within a real working environment.

Like anything else out there, you have your good days and your bad days. Being an apprentice, you can sometimes feel like a bit of a burden in the workplace. When you are working within a busy workplace, you sometimes feel like you're just getting in the way. However, the majority of the time, you feel welcomed into a placement and there is plenty of work to complete. Most of the people that you will work with are welcoming and support the apprenticeship programme, so will want to get as much as of you as possible! The apprenticeship definitely met my expectations and I thoroughly enjoy it.

I do feel valued by BAE systems. I know that there is a full team of support behind every single one of the apprentices back at the training centre. If there is anybody that you need to talk to they're just a phone call or an email away. The facilities that are provided, as well as the funding that go into the programme by BAE systems makes you feel valued within the company.

The structure of the apprenticeship is very well organised. There are constant reviews and meetings with your personal apprentice assessor to ensure that your programme is running smoothly. The placements are sorted out by the training centre, but you can sort them out yourself. There is constant feedback given to you from your placement, and then you give feedback about your placement to ensure any future apprentices get the most out of it.

You are constantly supported by your training provider throughout the apprenticeship. When you are in the training centre, it is much easier to speak to people about any problems. However, when you go out on site, you can be in contact with your assessor whenever you need them.

The support from your employer can depend on what placement you are working on. There is always somebody on a placement that is there to support you.

I am currently happy with the salary I am earning. The salary plan is explained to you at the beginning of the apprenticeship so that you get a vague idea of how much you are going to earn in the future.

There are many opportunities that are given outside of work. These include: Outward Bound Experience, German Exchange, School Ambassador, Site leisure gym discounts.

Yes

I personally think that the career path that you take once you have left school depends entirely on what type of work you want to go into. But if there is an apprenticeship that suits the job you want to go into, then it's definitely a better decision than going to college. Following my opinion on getting an apprenticeship, this apprenticeship has been impressive so far, therefore I would recommend it to anybody with an interest for engineering to apply!

Be yourself. Give your real opinion throughout the application process, show your passion. Although it's natural to be nervous, try to relax for the interview as they are a much more relaxed atmosphere than I have experience at different companies.