Craftsperson Review

My role involves carrying out maintenance on the Plant and Equipment that makes up the electricity transmission system. This can be carried out as a Person being part of a working party or by enacting the role of Competent Person and leading the working party for the duration of the work. It involves reporting near misses, completing accurate timesheets for the work you have carried out, completing all relevant paperwork for each work activity in accordance with company policies and procedures. Looking after the company vehicle provided and recording mileage usage, keeping tools in good order and keeping track of what you have on the van.

I have learned a great deal of technical knowledge through the apprenticeship on various training courses and through the city and guild qualification. The best skills I have learnt through the apprenticeship are working as a team, social skills through interacting with different types of people on the team during both low pressure and high pressure situations which has greatly increased my confidence in leading working parties and interacting with colleagues day to day.

I really enjoyed the programme, it had a good consistency of learning throughout, all the training was useful and helped with progressing onto the next training or the next on site task and it had clearly been planned out well. There was a good level of challenge involved and it pushed me to become more assertive and independent in contacting people and organizing my work load.

The learning is incredibly well organized and flows very fluently all through the programme. I never felt like I needed to have completed other training before learning what I currently was. I was always equipped to learn from the current situation, whether it was on site or learning at the academy.

I personally did not need much support but it was made very clear from the start that there was plenty of support available whenever needed. I knew exactly who I could contact if I needed it and what was available. I also had a mentor available to give guidance and advice with any issues.

The training provider frequently kept us updated with health and safety information, training course changes/alterations. They assisted with re arranging training if needed for any reason, there were frequent reviews throughout the programme to allow us to express concerns, request support and reflect on how we are doing and how we feel.

I think the qualification helps me extremely well to perform better in my role as I have found that the training I have done translates well into on site work allowing me to contribute value to the work and be confident and independent with carrying out work activities. I also find I have a good base knowledge of all types of equipment that form part of the system so I have a good foundation to use to progress onto higher level positions or take on more responsibilities. I.E. Authorised person carrying out switching instructions.

There are opportunities to get involved with fund raising activities as well as promoting the apprenticeship programmes for future generations at careers events. There are networking meetings and social events held at numerous locations which all employees are invited to an open to attend. The company always seems to be looking for opportunities for apprentices to get involved with extra-curricular activities.

Yes

It has been by far the best apprenticeship I have been through, great pay, fantastic learning experience, even my work colleagues are the best I have worked with compared to previous jobs, apprenticeship and college experience. There is not much I can fault with the company other than things that are beyond most peoples control and the pro far outweigh the cons of working for national grid.

There is an assessment day which will involve practical hand skills assessment, so being comfortable using spanners and socket sets and having an idea of metric sizes and imperial sizes. You will also need to be comfortable with working at heights, working on a small ladder, being in an elevated work platform. A good basic mathematical knowledge will be beneficial.