Mintenance technician Review

My job role as an apprentice is a maintenance technician. Daily tasks can vary from shadowing skilled workers, working on projects and maintaining equipment. From shadowing the workers, you gain a variety of skills than you can then apply to other jobs when working independently. My responsibilities as an apprentice is the following: ensuring any health and safety issues are reported, maintaining equipment and ensuring that jobs are completed to the BMW standard.

I have learned and developed many skills during this apprenticeship. For example being able to program and manual move ABB robots, S7 training, being able to strip and rebuild various types of equipment and condition monitoring. The types of equipment vary from mechanical, electrical pneumatic and hydraulic. Skills that have been developed are skills using machinery like lathes, mills and pillar drills.

I very much enjoy my programme. This is because it has so much to offer and gives you the opportunity to learn and develop so many skills. The types of maintenance jobs that are conducted vary so the job never gets boring. For example working on a 3 phase motor and then a paint pump.

The structure of the programme is very organised. For the first year apprentices are in the training school learning the basics like milling, turning pneumatics welding and so much more. In the second and third year apprentice’s then work out on plant shadowing skilled workers. Every three months apprentices rotate around technologies so that new skills can be learned. In the fourth and final year apprentice go into a final placement where they will work on one area for the year. This gives then the opportunity to settle down in one area and show the maintenance team skills they have learned during the apprenticeship.

The employer offers a lot of support for apprentices. For example meetings are held to discuss how the apprentice is finding the placements and if they need and support or discuss any issues. Furthermore, if there is an issues or support is needed, the placement managers are informed and they will deal with the problem.

The training provider offers a lot of support when working towards my qualification. For example, the collage will ask how you are finding the course and if you require any support if you are struggling in an area. For example, discussing Complex numbers. The collage then asks for feedback regarding support and if they are providing enough of it.

I feel that the qualification helps me to perform better in my role. This is because it helps me understand the equipment I am working on. For example I would study three phase motors at collage. I would then work on a faulty motor out on plant and use the knowledge I have gained at collage to repair the motor.

There is many extra-curricular activities to get involved in at work. For example, touring work experiences or kids that are interested in the apprentice around technologies. This is done to show them my working environment and the equipment they will be expected to work on. Career days are also available for apprentices to attend to. This is so that apprentices can tell people their opinion and experiences in the BMW group.

Yes

I would recommend BMW group to a friend for many reasons. One of them being that there is so many opportunities to learn new skills and meet new people. There is also loads of training opportunities that can be taken. For example, robot training and programming. The job also has many benefits like the car scheme. The pay is also very good for apprentices.

My advice would be to not wait and apply now. Ensure that you work hard as you will gain more knowledge and skills from this. Furthermore, I highly recommend this apprenticeship because it has so much to offer. You should also have a project for your interview to present so that you can show off your skills and knowledge. You should also engage in group activates to show that you are a team player and can work well with others. This is important as you will be working independently and in team’s during your job as an apprentice.