Electrical Control and Instrumentation Apprentice Review

I am an Electrical, Control and Instrumentation Apprentice working at Ratcliffe On Soar Power Station. On a typical day at work I accompany an experienced member of the maintenance team. Whilst working alongside an experienced craftsperson I gain both a practical and theoretical knowledge of the job and can build on my own experience of the power station environment.

I have completed a BTEC level 3 in Electrical Engineering during the first two years of my apprenticeship and will be moving on to working towards my HNC shortly. Alongside these college courses I am working towards completing an NVQ level 3 Electrical Control and Instrumentation Power Plant Maintenance. I have also completed a wide range on internal training courses to build the crucial skills required for working within a power station. These courses include Hand Skills, Machining, Pipework, Electrical Principles, Motors, Switchgear, and a wide range of Instrumentation courses.

I thoroughly enjoy my apprenticeship programme, I feel that I am learning new things day by day and am building up a strong knowledge and experience of working at a power station. I enjoy my position within the apprentice team and feel like I'm a part of the wider team of Ratcliffe and of E.ON.

I feel that E.ON have invested a large amount in me and so feel highly valued by the company. I also feel that I receive recognition from managers and other staff members for my progress as i meet targets and objectives.

The apprenticeship is very well structured and organised. The entire apprenticeship programme is broken down into a week by week schedule of training courses, college and site time. The programme begins with an induction to give a full introduction into E.ON and the apprenticeship scheme. The first year of the programme comprised mostly of training courses with short periods of site time. As I have become more experienced the amount of time spent working on the power station has increased. This builds on the ground knowledge received from the training courses to provide a working knowledge of the power station.

There is a great amount of support from the training provider, the E.ON Engineering Academy at Ratcliffe. The apprenticeship is designed to be a constant challenge but I feel that I would never be left to struggle. This support comes from both the management and the training instructors who work hard to help the apprentices to achieve the best that they can.

There is a lot of support in the way of providing every possible resource to help apprentice progression. I feel that I am encouraged by my employer to achieve my full potential within E.ON and receive strong advice and guidance on how to do so. There is always available support for apprentices to discuss any problems or ask any questions.

I find that the salary of this apprenticeship scheme provides a comfortable living wage for a young person at the beginning of their career. I can support my living and travel costs with enough spare to meet social costs and to begin saving.

There are opportunities away from work in the form of company events and activities. There has also been opportunity to go into schools and businesses outside of E.ON to help promote apprenticeships to young people.

Yes

I would recommend E.ON because of the enjoyment I get from my apprenticeship programme. E.ON put a lot of time into their apprentices to give the best support they can, and to help to reach their full potential. The skills learned on the apprenticeship scheme are very valuable and there is a vast array of opportunities to move on to once the apprenticeship programme has finished.

I would advise an applicant to the E.ON apprenticeship to have a genuine interest in power generation and in wider engineering. Applicants should be keen on problem solving as well as enjoying a challenge; this should be shown in the application process in order to try to stand out above other applicants. Preparation is key for the interview process, having researched E.ON and Ratcliffe will prove highly beneficial as well as being able to demonstrate an interest in the industry. Having previous experience of working hands on or within engineering will be great help during the application process.