Leather Shop Sewing Apprentice Review

My role in the apprentice consists of various placements (most lasting 2 months) throughout the Leather Shop at Rolls-Royce. These placements range from cutting, prep work, sewing, covering, seat building and many other things. Day to day I will go to my set placement and begin working with the team in order to successfully learn the jobstick competently. I also participate in various projects suc as the teams 'Family Day' and smaller projects relating to the companies activities.

Beginning the apprenticeship, I already had fairly developed skills in sewing - however, I had never worked with leather or industrial machinery. This then allowed me to gain far more experience in sewing and build confidence in the area. All other things such as covering or building seats I had no experience in, although it has been very interesting and exciting to learn these new skills.

I enjoy the work side of my programme greatly, learning new skills and meeting new people almost everyday is something very new to me due to this bing my first experience in a full time job. I do enjoy the college side of the programme, however I would much rather spend the time learning more at work.

The trainers in charge of us, as apprentices, always work exceptionally hard to make sure we are in placements and learning what we need to. They use a large amount of time to ensure the programme is fully organised and structured so we know what to be doing. If we complete work in our placement, they will nearly always have something else for us to be doing or assist with.

I personally have received a very large amount of support from my employers as well as colleagues. Whether it's help completing jobsticks, learning a new skill, or even personal issues such as mental health. I have received great help and support through any struggles I have brought up to my trainers and employers.

The support system at the college I attend is less helpful than in the work environment. There is often times when you struggle to receive help due to the size of the classes, this then becomes very frustrating and makes completing assignments within te time frame extremely challenging as a whole.

There are certain aspects that I do believe provide help, such as the training and practice within sewing. However college provides a more decorative outlook on designs - whereas work is more structured and repetitive. A large amount of the work we do at college, however, does end up not being particularly helpful.

There are many social activities provided by work, for example a 'Family Day' is put on in order to show all the workers families a fun day at the company. There are also Christmas Dinner style lunches provided for free during December as well as a fairly new system to connect different groups such as Single Parents or LGBTQ+.

Yes

I would definitely recommend the company to others, and have done before. This is because it is well structured and an excellent learning opportunity as well as a networking opportunity in such a prestigious company. I would very much be proud to tell anyone whee I work and suggest they apply.

I would recommend that people be themselves fully because the company loves to see who we are as people and how expressive we can be. I would always say to give it a go regardless of how confident you are, but you should always believe in yourself as you are always more capable than you think.