Mechanical Engineering Apprentice Review

Roles and daily activities will vary depending on which department we are working in at that time. (3-6 month rotations of business and engineering placements). Currently I am in manufacturing (R&D) mechanical team. Work types, and quantities vary dramatically with this team. It can be as small as cleaning grime/glue of a component, to supporting the assembly of an entire product for a trial.

Throughout the apprenticeship I have learned/developed both hard and soft skills such as: CAD (CREO) skills Communicated with people external to the company Time management Working with those who cannot manage their own time... Communicating in formal environments (end of placement presentations etc) Confidence in and around the working environment.

Some departments can be enjoyable to work in as the work is engaging and teams are welcoming and supportive. Other departments lack one or both of these elements. There is no process or guide for how departments manage/mentor their apprentices. And as such, many simple utilise apprentices as a free resource. The programme itself (structure and progress) seems haphazard and somewhat poorly planned or at least poorly communicated to apprentices. The quality of support from our training provider is poor.

It does not seem to be well structured at all. Apprentices do not spend time in all the departments the are able to finish the apprenticeship in. Furthermore there is often little movement for apprentices select departments they want to go into. The training provider has a regular habit of leaving many assignments late into the year, along with releasing multiple (up to 3) with hand in dates for a single week.

Some individual line managers are incredible supportive, others can be somewhat absent from mentoring their apprentices. ECP management had (with previous manager) a policy of if they didn't hear anything, they presumed nothing was wrong. With one manager to look after the entire ECP, not much support is directly received except generic emails.

Certain tutors can be helpful when regarding work. Others can only be rated as poor. It can be very difficult when receiving feedback for assignments as this is only verbal. This often leads to us missing/not achieving areas of tasks due to incomplete feedback. Furthermore as this feedback is only verbal, we cannot question the support (i.e tutor failed to mention area of concern) as it becomes an issue of our word against theirs.

It doesn't. The NVQ purely acts as a record of work we are undertaking through the apprenticeship, and so does not realistically aid in development. The BTEC and HNC training I have personally not found helpful in any of my current or previous roles. PEO (during first year) has been useful, both in design roles and I have a better understanding of manufacturing techniques, and craft roles as I have experience on the tools.

The company has a Climbing element of the Sports and Social Club. We regularly climb indoors and out. For 2019 I was voted into planning/running outdoor trips for the club. (This has currently been going successfully) The company has many other clubs such as shooting, hockey, football etc that all seem to have positive reviews.

Yes

From conversations the scheme is viewed highly both inside and out of the company. This will allow for a good transfer and starting point for a career. Pay and work life balance are also very good. (Such as use of flexi hours) These (I hope) out weigh the current issues with the scheme.

Ensure you have both a strong (relatively) academic background as well as a confidence/persona that suggests you can work comfortably in both groups and by oneself. External hobbies/interests also go a long way during interviews and later in the company! (E.g, youth groups such as the cadets or scouts)