Technical Assembly Apprentice Review

My week is split in 2 parts, on a Monday i am at Rolls-Royce on the production line, this is where I Shadow and work with an experienced factory worker on the cars interior (Centre Console, Headliner, Seats, A-B-C-D Pillers, ect.) The other 4 days are spent at college where I work on my units that are for the course doing a mix of written work and practical work (Milling, Turning, Hand Fitting).

I have developed my skills in the practical side, developing my knowledge on milling and turning, while teaching others of what i have learnt to aid there experience. By helping others I developed more confidence in speaking to others and teaching others. I have learnt the new skill of welding which i hope to use in the work place if needed.

I have/am enjoying the college aspect of the programme as it suits my academic and practical stance on it. Learning new things and helping others is what I enjoy doing. The work aspect i enjoy to a point, I enjoy working with the people around me and everyone is accommodating and wanting to teach us how to do there part, just to extend our knowledge of the cars and the company itself. The enjoyment starts to go down when you find something out like meetings ect. only an hour before they happen rather then knowing days prior, there is no communication to us from the company itself which is a real shame.

At the start, it was well structured where we to skern lodge for a team building week which made it so much easier to get to know everyone on the programme. Once we got back to the factory and started everything was organised to a point where we had health and safety training, meetings about company standards, meeting on the history of Rolls-Royce itself, and all this was amazing and well structured. When it came to the start of college however there was no structure at all really as it was a guess what days we were in and when we had to be at the factory, then the college never got the signatures needed to sign us on the course because these signatures weren't received till the end of November, so we couldn't start much of the college course. There is little to no communication between lead trainer at the factory and the apprentices which at times has caused issues for some apprentices. Making really feel like not many of us have support from work and only from the college.

From the employer, there is little to no communication, when it comes round to days when college is closed we won't know if we are studying in an open part of the college or going to work until the day before which is normally too late at that point. When an apprentice askes the lead trainer for information or for support on something, their won't be a reply for about 2 days or even no reply at all. If there is an event or a company shut down, we are just not told till the day before or not at all. The information will be sent to our work emails which we can only check once a week as you can only access them in the factory, if they need people for an event then it will be sent to our personal email, they day of the deadline that they need a response by.

At college, we receive a lot of support, the trainers try and push you to be the best you can be and make you have a high standard of work, to make sure your able to prove yourself and get a good grade at the end of it, with a possibility of going further with it. The trainers will try and get information from the employer so that there is some sort of communication, but when they don't get an answer they open a classroom up for us so we can study.

I feel with this qualification it help me with understanding all health and safety regulations, how to fit and solder electronics and how to communicate with others clearly. However, this is all that helps with the role as the other units are great but when at work we don't use the skills which we have been taught as everything is pre-made for us.

At the start of the apprentiship, there was a week trip to skern lodge where there was a large BMW group team building exercise which made everyone friends and kicked everything off great, There is also an event we do with a school near the factory where we make a cart for them to race, however, because of poor communication most of the apprentices weren't able to go.

Yes

I would recommend it because it's a great company to work for full time not part time, you are able to get far with the company as they want you to get somewhere. They have many benefits like car schemes and amazing pension scheme which is unbeatable. The pay is really good once you're out of the apprenticeship too.

The only advice is to be confident and doesn't be afraid to say anything, speak your mind and make them want you, not just be the another one of the crops, stand out and make yourself heard, try and bring some experience to the table like team building and engineering maybe, just do your best.