Mechanical Engineering Higher Apprentice Review

During my first placement I was in NAVED (noise and vibration engineering department) this mainly involved working within the trials and testing team which included going out and assisting or observing with jobs such as sensor fitting and removal, balancing of machinery, testing of mounts, and assessing the vibration signatures of machinery. Time between this was filled with reading technical documents and getting involved with extra development opportunities.

I have developed people skills as I have had to interact with new people on a daily basis. My knowledge of mechanical systems and specific noise and vibration techniques and terminology has improved. I have made use of previous knowledge from education which has been useful. At college I have also gained information on new topics.

I have enjoyed my first placement because I have had exposure to the product which not many other apprentices have had, there has been some quest time in my placement which has allowed me to improve knowledge through reading tech notes and completing college assignments and extra work however this can sometimes get boring.

I wouldn't say that the programme is massively well organised and I would expect more organisation and structure from such a large company. When moving placement sometimes there is not work or the correct equipment to complete work. Sometimes the departments do not even know you are arriving are there is plan in place for while you are there. This is varied and can be a mixed opinion depending what placement you are on.

We receive lots of support through early careers and reviews every 12 weeks to review how we are progressing. Between these reviews there are meetings with discipline managers and we can email a member of early careers at any time if we have any concerns which is good. The support is good.

I don't even know who my training provider is so I don't know if I receive support from them. I'm guessing its the college where I sit my qualifications. There is little support available however they do say that there is but I haven't experienced this yet .

I feel the qualification overall is okay but needs tweaking to become very effective to mechanical engineers. There needs to be more emphasis on the subjects that are being used day to day in engineering but I do see the need for the variety of subjects to fulfil the qualification criteria.

Directly through work I don't know of any extra sports or social activities, most people just organise these between themselves in their working groups or friend groups. There are stretch opportunities which allow you to work on extra curricular tasks and network with other business members. There are also professional events run by the IET and IMechE which we can attend if approved.

Yes

Because there is broad range of business units and you can gain valuable work experience in a wide area within your discipline. You also gain a high level qualification for free and get paid while doing so. You get to experience real like business issues and tasks which prepares you for exit and industry much better than alternative routes.

Make sure you are open minded and prepared to work if you want to be successful throughout the apprenticeship. The is lost of college work on top of regular working hours. You m ay not always be doing the most interesting work of be in a placement you don't like but this experience will help.