Substation Craftsperson Review

My role is to maintain, repair and install Substation equipment. Most of the time currently has been away training. Each week I am either learning new skills or gaining knowledge about equipment I will be/am working on. I am also working towards a qualification which takes 4x2 week stints a year. When I am onsite I am gaining knowledge and working on the equipment relevant to my apprenticeship and also hopefully my future role. This is also gaining experience and gathering evidence for my portfolio.

I have learned new hand skills and fitting skills due to being on courses. This has got me used to new tools and equipment and also understanding how equipment is maintained and put together. I have also developed inter personal skills as a result of being around and meeting new people.

I really enjoy my programme.I feel National Grid look after me from when I got offered the job to the present day. I feel I am pushing my limits and also learning so much in the small time I have been here. I look forward to the future to gaining more skills and learning even more.

We have an excel sheet with what course, where and dates from when we started until august bank holiday which is nearly the end of the first year. This has been stuck to bar a first aid course which was rearranged due to the trainer being ill. The timetable can sometimes have long stints but has a mix of training to keep it interesting.

I am reassured that I have the support I need when I need it. My managers, academy team and onsite managers have been very supportive and I feel I can go to any of these people if I need advice and help. I have never felt that I don't have the support around me.

When gaining my qualification I can contact my trainers via email for support and we are given material before the next session to get a head start if we want. When in class I feel comfortable asking questions and asking for more help which they don't hesitate to help me with.

The training helps me understand exactly what us going on within the equipment I work with. With this understanding I am able to see what this equipment does and how it works and how It can change. Sometimes I can see why we may not need to know this but I feel it helps with my understanding of the equipment.

There is an engineering club we can take part in at the training centre. They have a gym, pool and snooker table, dart board, mountain bikes, fishing pond, hard court, Bar, We have also discussed using the rooms to watch sports games and also link our games consoles to play games e.g. Nintendo Switch.

Yes

I feel they go the extra step in training. We gain skills which is good in our personal life as well such as First Aid and Mental Health. I feel the job is really interesting and it involves something that really interests me. If you like doing something hands on then the apprenticeship i am on is great to be part of.

I would tell anyone who applied that this is a job for life. If you can stay on top of your work and knuckle down in class then this is the place for you. There are some tough times such as getting to the training centre depending on how far way you live, but the trainers and people you train with will help you through it and have a laugh along the way. I cant count how many skills ive learned with this job and I am very happy to be here and say I work for National Grid.