Apprentice Mechanical Engineer (Craft) Review

My role is to manufacture and assemble industrial gas turbines. On a daily basis I speak with the people I am shadowing, as well as managers and supervisors. I am responsible for ensuring all components and assemblies meet company and international standards, so that nothing substandard is delivered to the customer.

I have learned to operate several complex multi-axis metal cutting machines, on which the gas turbine parts are machined. As well as this I have been trained to operate overhead cranes and electric pedestrian stacker trucks. I know about the importance of quality control and how to deal with any non-conformance that appear.

I made friends for life during the first year full-time at college, the training provided by both Lincoln College and Siemens will serve me well for the rest of my career. The company's culture is one of a really big family, they are always rewarding people for going beyond what's expected of them or making great suggestions. This encourages people to do more and be more.

I think the program is really well structured. It begins with a 2 week long induction to Siemens, in which time you are made familiar with the company values and health and safety polices. From week 1 your training begins, with manual handling and other courses. I was given the opportunity to exceed the expectations of the apprenticeship by doing my HNC in Mechanical Engineering, this is something that will open doors to higher pay and progression in my career.

Managers are friendly and always willing to give you extra time should you require it, for completing college or NVQ work in time. NVQ assessors will always give you great advice if you're struggling anything at work. Generally at Siemens college work is seen as being just as important as production work, which is something that should be the same at every company, as it really helps apprentices.

There have been a few good tutors at Lincoln college, but in the first 2 years of the apprenticeship we had several come and go within the space of a year. This proved yo be quite disruptive to our Level 3 program. This last year in HNC has been a lot better, as tutors have been understanding of the difficulties caused by predecessors.

I think all that I've been taught both at Siemens and Lincoln college, help me a lot with my role at work. College gives me a deep understanding of mechanical principles and material technology, which allows me to understand why certain things are done in the work place and even enable me to make process improvement suggestions.

There are always company events in which you can get involved, they exhibit at the local STEM fair and at the Birmingham NEC, as well as attending Good Wood festival of speed. Volunteering opportunities can be found on the company intranet, and you can even submit new ones once they get approved.

Yes

Excellent engineering training provider, they're at the top of their game for quality and are a globally recognized household name. You always feel like you're important even in the first year of your apprenticeship, and there are some really great benefits available to their employees such as discounts and salary sacrifice schemes.

Fill out your application form as thoroughly as possible. Make sure you do your research about the company and what they produce, as you will be questioned on this. Don't put anything in your CV that isn't true, as the interviewers will always question you on your CV, so be prepared to answer these questions. You can't revise for the psychometric tests, just try some example ones online before you take them.