Apprentice Engineer Review

I am based at Schneider's electric Leeds manufacturing plant. My role is to learn about the products made here and the processes used. I have to be interested, ready to ask questions & have good communication. I go round each department as my apprenticeship plan, and learn as much as possible.

I have learnt how certain parts are manufactured and how they impact the product. I have improved my I.T skills by doing my assignments for college & NVQ work. I have learnt more about engineering whether its at the manufacturing plant or at the training provider. I have improved my communication skills talking to people from all areas of the business.

It is an enjoyable program as I'm learning new things about the business or the product everyday, moving from areas, such as marketing, quality or engineering. Having experience in many areas allows me to see what I enjoy the most and try the hardest at. It is an interesting factory.

The company typically takes on new apprentices for this site every year, so we have a plan to follow based on the past apprentices programs. We have a plan to follow for the area we are supposes to be in. This can be altered if we choose that we need more time in an area to grasp the follow idea or learn more.

The company is very supportive, our managers are very approachable and ready to listen to any concerns we have at work. As we change area's very commonly been every week or two, it can be hard to have the correct manager. Because of this case we have two. Good support.

The training provider been Leeds City College are not as expected, as we go an a day release program. I would have thought we would be able to access the facilities and resources need. But it seems the exact opposite. It appears that we are not as important to the college as full-time students, as we can be moved room or given teachers that don't know about the subject, very easily by the head of department. Any compliant to the college about, and we get the same response.

The qualification is a Higher Level 4 apprenticeship, HNC with a NVQ 4. As the qualification is so broad at the moment it doesn't seem to be helping me with my day to day jobs at work. The NVQ assessor is extremely poor, taking 6 months to start us on the program and only coming in the factory once in that time, to recruit more apprentices for next year.

We do get the opportunity to go on team building exercises with other Schneider Electric apprenticeships. For the Leeds site where I am based, there are some activities available to us. But not as frequently as I would like. We don't have any teams for sports that I know about.

Yes

It is an exciting company with many opportunities for the right individual. They innovate for new products and are very customer focused. They have facilities all over the world. Allowing them to be diverse and embrace all kinds of people. They recurit apprentices all over the UK, it is a great opportunity.

For the recruitment process, you must appear very interested and have a background in the area you are applying for. Whether its doing practical things in school or activities out of school. You must show interest in the apprenticeship area you have applied for. Most of all you need to enjoy the assessment an interview.