Electronics Technical Apprentice Review

This review comes from the eyes and thoughts of a third year Electronics Technical Apprentice nearing the completion of my Level 3 NVQ. To summarise the apprenticeship a little, leading to this point; I started in a group of ten apprentices in the south east of England who where being trained up to a standard expected to work safely and competently at BAE Systems in Rochester, all during our first year which was taught by a training provider, IPS international. In the second year of the apprenticeship we were then moved to the site where we were placed in 6 different placements of different departments/business ventures and would spend up to 8 weeks each. This allowed for a great overview of the company where we would work with many different engineers all ranging in age and experience. This especially created opportunities to see business sectors of which may suit different people. Having completed the second year we were then given the opportunity to choose where we would like to spend the rest of our third year apprenticeship. For me this choice was in Hardware Engineering. Hardware Engineering encompasses a vast network of the business, we have our hands in every project and there is always a need for Hardware Engineers. Currently I work on projects involving active sticks for civil applications as well as military applications.. Active Sticks is a thriving business at Rochester and the work I undertake supports the design and prototyping to the repair and rework of current items. I have repaired many PCBs, supported the design and implementation of new projects, attended meetings, carried out inspections, fault finding activity, making ad hoc items to support my testing and more. I regularly use equipment from oscilloscopes to DMM, PSU, signal generators, soldering irons to ESD prevention and PPE needed for these task. In fact Rochester is one of the only sites that has such a variety of projects going that there is always something new. I work with a large team of management employees, senior engineers, ex Technical Apprentices and even new apprentices on these different projects I am even tasked to train up an employee who is an engineer and had just completed university. There is a myriad of activities and job roles to undertake that not everyone in the apprenticeship does the same thing and everyday is different with the vast amount of technical experience to be had. This is also what makes the apprenticeship special as everyone's experience is unique and everyone can do the same job role if they so choose. My routine involves coming into work usually around 7 to 7.30 as I commute 40 minutes each way, fortunately being an employee of BAE Systems has its many perks and one of which is flexible hours, meaning you can come into work anywhere from 6.45am to 10am , no questions asked. This is especially useful for dealing with traffic. I will therefore finish at 3.15pm to 6.45pm depending when I started and then everyone who has done enough hours leading up to Friday can finish at 1pm for the weekend. There are many other perks like this and that is why there are employees who have been at BAE for decades. Speaking of decades, everyone here have worked with apprentices and have done so for a long time and that is why there is such a great support structure in place from Human Resources to Occupational Health clinics on site, lower and higher Apprentice Councils, regular surveys and meetings, Safeguarding offices, Ethics officers, EAP and more! I interact with fellow colleagues and apprentices daily, which makes this company feel like a family rather than a conglomerate. You have systems for communicating such as Skype, phone, email and face to face and usually your own work station, I have dual monitors and a 32gb ram monster of a computer which allows me to run many demanding applications from electronics simulations, CAD to schematics and opening lots of tabs! Outside of BAE I have a day release on Thursday every week to go to college to take part in my HNC. Once completed I will plan to go on to doing my degree, all paid for by the company. To summarise working for BAE Systems Rochester is not a typical job, you are at the forefront of technological advancements and innovation and will see a lot of amazing things that will make your all your experiences of electronics and computing at home seem like a pocket toy. You will get continually challenged at different levels on your technical knowledge and will be given opportunities to apply yourself forward for different things. You will see hundreds of people and meet like minded individuals and you will not look back with regret.

I have gained so much experiences over what I have learned at GCSE, A-LEVELS and my brief time at university. Since starting the apprenticeship both from working at BAE systems and from my Level 3 BTEC and my HNC. I have learned valuable electronics knowledge and know how to be able to read schematics of very complicated devices and from which I will fault find using electrical and electronics principals, electronics equipment such as oscilloscopes, DMM, signal generators and bespoke test sets to fault find double sided PCB boards that would make most PCBs out there look simple. I have developed proficiencies in use of ICT such as Skype, outlook to organise my emails and meetings. I have learned to use different Microsoft applications such as VISIO and projects. I continually develop my understanding of CAD software such as AutoCAD, Eagle, Microcap, sketch-up for college and work. I have developed my understanding of popular Microsoft applications such as Excel where I used the VBA to develop unique functions. I always use Microsoft word for developing documents too. I also use a lot of bespoke applications for BAE systems to supplement my work such as oracle, teamcentre, RAID, and more. I have learned so much throughout the apprenticeship and I am thrilled at what I can do, so much so that I am taking on DIY projects at home. Ever wanted to make your own device that can surpass or meet the specifications of a consumer product ? well I am making my own integrated amplifier that will compete with a 2000 pounds set for just hundreds of pounds to run my Missions and Kenwood speakers with Bluetooth integration and a compact/modern design. I plan to take this forward and do many DIY projects to build upon my knowledge and create something unique, I have also developed as a person into a more professional, engineering orientated individual and have skill sets to deal with employees, VIPs, external persons and many different personality's on the site, that allows me to communicate with technical jargon and address different levels of abilities to get my point across, similarity, understand what I have been given back.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my programmed and continually to do so, although I do not feel like an apprentice any more but an employee of BAE systems. I get to work with and talk to individuals always having a laugh and learning something new. I never get bored and have something different I can do when fatigue with anything else, and working at BAE systems Rochester is like a hobby that I get paid for doing something I want to do.

The apprenticeship is very well organised to the extent that there are more opportunities that there are apprentices throughout, we have extra curricular activity's to supplement our job role such as early careers, apprentice council, scribe, website responsibilities, apprentice fairs and Engineering taster week. The college outside of work for our HNC learning could be more organised and structured as we have had some problems with our providers, Midkent college, previously at Level 3 BTEC and a little at HNC with regards to room size and teacher support but all pales in comparison when you have a fantastic structure to supplement your learning and experience at BAE systems that its like college is a walk in the park to do HNC level work anyway. All in all, its a great way of getting the experience, learning and skills you need and want to succeed in the technological industry. So much so I am training up an engineer from university as I said before.

A huge amount of support that it is almost endless with what you get help with. There are continually communications between HR and apprentices, to ensure proper safeguarding and everyone is catered for. There are online libraries for all your learning needs and accounts paid for by BAE Systems as well as fantastic applications that can track your employment information's and display it all in a friendly manner. There is Occupational health which is like an onsite GP, the SHE office that looks after your safety, the departments you are in are very good at doing personal development reviews throughout the career and putting you on interesting projects. There are applications for employee benefits that entitles you to major discounts across many situations and applications to manager your holidays, your sickness and more. Working at BAE has it many perks and they really care about their employees. There are so much support for your learning that I was able to get D*D* in my level 3 BTEC course and look set to achieve the same level of result for HNC

As explained above, our support from our training provider which is Midkent college could be improved, but it is vastly improved from what is was for Level 3 BTEC and that could be contributed to us changing sites from Chatham to Maidstone Mid-kent college. The improvement lies around the class size that we are in which is large at this level of learning and our teacher's organisational skills could be better. However this is all insignificant as the support at BAE systems carries over to college and therefore we are always ensured that we have what we need for our learning and development.

Our qualification helps a lot in the basic of what we do at the start of the apprenticeship but towards the later stages is becomes more about theory and the practical side is mostly learned at BAE Systems. It has actually got to the stage where we are bringing experiences and our learning from BAE systems to complete our college course and even teach others in our class from other companies.

There are plenty of opportunities to get involved in such as curricular activities within work like Engineering Taster Week, bring a young person to work day, Early careers, Scribe, Apprentice Website management, onsite newspaper and more. Everyone can get involved in something. The apprentices and Graduates have a mailing system to organise events outside of work and do activities together such as pubs and golfing. There are also clubs onsite such as running club, fitness club and opportunities to go to theatres/company paid for trips/tickets being held for employees to special events.

Yes

BAE Systems at Rochester doing Electronics is an excellent choice for those with aspirations in engineering. You will gain a plethora of experiences and not only for the technical skills but for your interpersonal development as you are continually working in a professional environment. BAE Systems really look after their employees and always have opportunities for everyone. You will find it difficult to find a better employer in the UK and this shows within their company at every turn. I will re-apply something I have wrote before, that cannot be said any better: 'You will be hard pressed to find a more suitable organisation to learn extremely advanced engineering and specialist subjects, which will benefit you in your career with BAE and even outside of BAE as the name holds undeniable clout with other organisations. If a career in a specialist subject, growing as a person, making friends, enjoying yourself and working your way up in a company doing something meaningful while being looked after financially, is for you? Join BAE Systems.'

BAE Systems and all its perks and enjoyment is a brilliant choice but the place is a professional settings and not for the faint hearted. BAE Systems holds worldwide prestige and the workplace is serious about delivering top of line, innovative and exceptional products/services. Every employee are very well respected and unfathomably intelligence. The products BAE Systems provide are exemplary and therefore the employees are expected to perform. The one thing I believe every employee values despite what I said, is effort. Put in the effort and you will do well, you do not need to be a walking Wikipedia of knowledge to get far, you need to have the right attitude and respect coupled with effort and you have what it takes. BAE Systems is a wonderful ecosystem of different people with different beliefs and personalities, you will fit in no matter how weird and strange you might think you are. Just put the effort in and respect others. If you just join the apprenticeship just to be paid well and not care about working at BAE Systems or respecting it culture, well you won't succeed and will not get a chance to reach that point anyway.