Engineering Technician Apprentice Review

In my role I go on a number of different placements around the plant and work within different teams for three month periods. I will usually get involved in or even run a project in that department that will benefit both myself and them, while also shadowing a member of the team to understand their role.

The skills that i can say i have developed most is my confidence and my ability to communicate with various people in an effective manner. I have had to contact suppliers to the company and ensure that I represent the BMW Group correctly. I have alos had to give various presentations to people at different levels in the business.

I have for the most part enjoyed the programme that I am on, i have loved learning new things and getting to interact with so many different people from different areas. There have been some instances in certain placements where I have very little work and can get slightly boring but after speaking with managers this is usually fixed quickly.

The programme i am on is relatively well structured and my placements are laid out prior to starting them. However, due to the nature of the business the placements are not always where I end up because they may not have any work for me or the space for an apprentice. This means that sometimes placements seem a bit thrown together last minute which can get annoying.

I recieve a lot of support from my employer, i have regular meeting every three months to discuss my progress and how everything is going (including any issues in my home life). I also feel like outside of these meetings i could go to my employer at any time if i had any questions. Any issues i have had have usually been resolved quickly.

Just like with my employer i have regular 3 month meetings with my training provider discussing how everything is going with my qualifications and my home life. They also ask me if i need any extra support in these meetings. Again, i can also go to the taining provider for help outside of these meetings.

The knowledge i am getting from my qualifications is very in depth and highly detailed however this is very rarely used in my job role. The other aspects of my qualifications are very useful for my job role and any future roles for example:working to deadlines and managing multiple tasks at the same time.

There are very limited extra-curriculer activites that i can get involved in. Most of the activities are careers events designed to promote our apprenticeship and a select few regular apprentices attend these. There is also the oppurtunity to help build a car for the Cowley Road Carnival but in order to partake in this you must take valuable time out of placements. One thing i have liked is going out for christmas meals and team building days with the departments i have been on placement with.

Yes

I would highly recommend BMW Group apprenticeships to a friend as I have grown tremendously as a person throughout my time here and learnt many skills. It has also given me a foot in the door with the potential to have an outstanding career with a massive company that works across the globe.

I would say that that any prospective applicants should ensure that they apply as early as possible so that you have enough time to gather everything you may need (qualifications and project portfolio) for during the interview process. I would also highly recommend taking part in work experience on the plant so that you can get a tatse for life here and see if it is something you would enjoy.