Apprentice M&E engineer Review

My day to day role involves mostly shadowing my mentor, who is a commissioning engineer. Sometimes, if a task is suitable, it will be given to me to complete. This can involve attending meetings and emailing people from around the business to gather information to help me complete the task at hand.

I have developed my skills and learned many new things working with Kevin and by working in this environment. I enjoy working in this type of workplace because most of the people I meet are happy to share their knowledge and help me learn and develop as an engineering apprentice.

I have really enjoyed my programme so far. I have gotten to know lots of people who have taught me soo much and helped me on my way to becoming the best engineer I can be. Although the training was lacking, my mentor and the other people I've met have done their best to help me develop and learn, teaching me practical skills for site work.

My programme is very structured overall. Day to day I just do what my mentor tells me. We car share and we can't really plan more than a week or two ahead due to the nature of his work. The training happens twice a month, with one session being site based NVQ work and the other being for office based training. One of our trainers also seems reluctant to respond and doesn't inspire me with confidence in their ability.

I receive a lot of support from my employer. My mentor has been very generous and allows me to car share every day and the company has been very good with helping me learn and develop, despite my age. They have put in an effort to make this programme interesting and progressive.

My training has been lacking. For 8 months I had no training from the training provider. The training has started recently and it has seemed to be going well so far, but 8 months without any word of training was disheartening to say the least, it made me consider my options more than once, though I am glad I am still at the company now.

The few training sessions have had have been progressive. I feel like they have helped me be a better engineer. I have learned a few rules and laws of engineering that have helped me be safe in the workplace and perform more work capably and without assistance necessary from my mentor.

There was a go karting event organised that I attended where it was nice to experience meeting everyone and chatting with them as just people rather than seeing them as their job roles. We also had a new starter lunch a few weeks after starting, which allowed me and the other apprentices to meet other people who joined the company under different circumstances to our own.

Yes

It is a good engineering company with opportunities to develop, grow and progress your career. The people here are supportive and the work is interesting so if anyone was interested in engineering I would highly recommend they try to get into the company. It is interesting and encouraging to see this work happening and what my future job could be.

My advice would be to stay confident and don't be discouraged by delays in any programmes or work. Staying strong willed and a good attitude will get you far in this job and it will leave a good impression on the people you are going to soon work for.