Apprentice Mechanical Engineer Review

My day-to-day role is to shadow the mechanical engineering team to witness their activity and learn relevant skills that's will be required upon completion of my apprenticeship. These activities include inspection work and relevant technical and professional skills techniques and practices required in the development of a problem solution.

Through my apprenticeship I feel I have both learnt skills and also further developed skills I already had. Every day I feel I am developing the practical skills required to be a mechanical engineer such as inspection and NDT techniques. I also feel I have further developed my ability for public speaking through the multiple opportunities I have had to do this through GSK.

I greatly enjoy my programme. There is never two days that are the same when I come to work. I find this incredibly enjoyable as I like to have a bit of variance when working as I feel things can get repetitive if not. Also, there are multiple apprentice events organised each year which allow apprentices from all over Britain to come together and discuss their progress which I find very enjoyable.

My programme is very well organised. I have monthly reviews with my manager to ensure that all of my objectives are being met within an acceptable time frame. I have a programme plan outlining all the main aspects of the job required to be known before ends. This allows me to keep sight of the progress being made and the aspects I have to focus on.

I feel I receive more than sufficient amounts of support from my employer. Any time I have any questions regarding the practical or theoretical side of the role I always receive the time and guidance required. I also receive five study days per year which I can take in preparation for exams which I find is a great help.

I feel I receive an adequate amount of support from my training provider. I have a mentor situated at university that reviews a log entry that I have to upload weekly and gives feedback on any improvements that can be made. We can also get in contact with the mentor if there are any further questions. All of this is alongside quarterly reviews that occur between the university and my employer.

I feel my qualification through my training provider helps me to perform far better in my role. The Qualification that I am completing at GCU is giving me the theoretical knowledge that I require to perform within my role. This theoretical knowledge allows me to better understand the practical processes on site and allows me to have a greater input where otherwise I could not.

There are several extra-curricular activities to get involved in at work. There are several fitness clubs including both a running club and a cycling club. There are also events set up for just the apprentices to get involved in. We have so far been on a resilience course and an outward bound course and soon we are attending another resilience course thing time with ex-soldiers.

Yes

I would recommend GSK and in particular a GSK apprenticeship to a friend as they are a great company to work for and care highly about their employees. It is also a great way to go far within an industry without having to go to university first. This is possible due to the fact that GSK push for their employees to enter further education and day release to help move up the career ladder.

The tips that I would give others applying to GSK would be to research the company thoroughly before applying to know exactly what kind of role they would like to move into. This also allows them to have plenty of questions lined up when it comes to the interview stage.