Apprentice Rolling Stock Technician Review

Shadowing technicans whilst undertaking maintenance tasks on weat Midlands Ralway trains at Tyseley TMD, to ensure they are safe for service. As well as completing nvq work through one file, then being assessed routinely by our nvq assessor. Whilst also one day a week completing a PEO level 2 in welding at BMET college

Yes, have learned numerous relevant maintenance skills, including knowing the roles of components in the different systems of the unit, how to inspect a unit thoroughly and to fault find when a fault occurs. As well as my team workjng skills amd leadership skills as i have had to take am active role wuth younger apprentices to show them my role and what I have learnt, this takes pressure off technicians who have an extremely responsible job regardless.

I enjoy working in a shop floor environment where I learn what the job entails, how to do it and seeing my ability grow as I progress through the apprenticeship. This enables me to work with my hands and be involved in fault finding as this makes my job more interesting as can make every task challenging and unique .

The apprenticeship should have a better structure as older/younger apprentices have been given different opportunities, such as HNC which we have not. Whilst also have not had enough exposure with our nvq assessor, as only met us at my home depot once, and cannot compare with previous people doing nvq as are trailblazer, therefore the first year.

There are numerous technicians on the shop floor that are willing to help me as I try and learn as much as I can, this invloves answering my questions and informing me off how the systems work with each other and what is safe for service. As experience can see which components are more likely to fail which is not taught in official documents.

It is mostly upon ourselves to seek out any neccesary help/guidance when as have not had as many assessor visits as promised, but this may be because I am in a trailblazer year, the first year doing it therefore is uncertainty for all parties, and have no example to work from.

It is better qualification as enables employers to know we have been trained and assessed within all the trains systems such as brake, engine, wheelset, HVAC, passenger comfort and suspension. This more relevant qualification and has a training provider which is newly formed and specalises in the rail industry, ntar this should provide a level of trust that this qualification is not easily awarded.

Yes I have been involved in football competions, networking event at ntar, award ceremonies and work parties. These have both been organised by the company and purely between employees. These have involved meeting apprentices in the same field, managers from separate companies and members of parliament. Including a football tournament with an apprentice team vs other shifts.

Yes

Is a relatively happy place to work, with job security and opportunities for promotion and to challenge yourself with basic fault finding to extremely complex fault finding having to use a range of different materials from schematics to ELDA. There are also examples of apprentice growing to become the head of engineering or head of new fleets of trains.

Ensure motivation stays high and to keep on top of coursework deadlines. As what I have struggled with the most is rushing to complete all the neccesary work on time, so that I do not stand out from the fellow apprentices as not putting in the same effort. Also to ensure as many other people are willing to help when you need it.