Engineering Technician Review

During a normal working week I spend 3 days on site and 2 days off site in education. During the days I am on site every 3 months I rotate into a different department. These departments include Product Validation, Chassis and Powertrain and working on adding value to the production system. I spend the other two days studying for my degree.

I have learnt lots of skills since working for BMW. I have learnt how to analyse data and read trends accordingly. I have also learnt more presentation skills and networking skills that will help me in the future. I have also learnt how to be more organised which has had a massive effect on my work.

I thoroughly enjoy the apprenticeship. Having the ability to get a degree while also gaining work experience will really help my future career. The placements are very interesting and the teams work together to help you understand processes. I am looking forward to the next few years and working in some more areas of the business.

The apprenticeship is well structured. It allows for the apprentices to get the time they need to study and pass the university exams, but also ensures that a clear plan is laid out explaining where we are supposed to be and where our current department is. Having a good structure makes it much more enjoyable for us.

We receive a lot of support from our employer. We have meeting ever so often where we are asked how everything is going and if there is anything that we need help with. Whether is it educational help or even if we need to move into a department that has more working for us to. It is very easy to talk to someone and get problems sorted.

We receive a lot of support from our training provider. We have emails for all the staff that lecture us and it is easy to get into contact with them if needs be. We are also given opportunities to have more teaching if we are unsure about a certain area of a subject.

The qualification that I am studying helps to give me an engineering/problem solving mindset that is invaluable in the industry. Also the mechanics subjects are really useful when understand the forces and dynamics of the vehicles. Overall I understand why the jobs requires a degree and why BMW are educating us.

There is definitely a lack of extra-curricular activities to get involved in. There is a race team but only a small amount of people are involved and it’s closed off to most individuals. I think a football team for different departments would be a good way to get people involved.

Yes

The pay is good, the benefits include access to the car scheme, and everyone has access to the pension scheme which is very good compared to other companies. The opportunities allows for people to move up and into different departments if they wish too. The working environment is welcoming and encourages hard work.

When applying make sure you explain why you would be perfect for the job. The roles that can be applied for require not only for you to be able to work on your own but also as a team. Having work experience is also key, showing you have worked in similar industries and put yourself out there to learn more.