Engineering Technician Review

Currently my role within BAE Systems is working within the Manufacturing Engineering team. Manufacturing Engineering (Man Eng) involves resolving query notes issued by areas of the business such as design or manufacture to ensure that the production line on site can continue to operate effectively. My responsibilities within Man Eng are to investigate the issues that any query notes raise by contacting both the department that issued the query as well as the department responsible for the problematic article. This means that I often interact with my colleagues in the Man Eng team as well as people from other departments in the business.

I have learnt many new skills since joining BAE Systems as well as developed existing skills. For example when I first joined the company I developed my team working skills whilst participating in an outward bound activity. BAE have also aided in developing my skills by offering both internal and external courses that each target improving a particular skillset as well as contributing towards any requirements of the qualifications we are completing. My role in Man Eng has aided my development as it involves communicating with employees across the business as well as working as part of a team.

I enjoy the work that the apprenticeship programme has to offer as it has introduced me to a variety of areas of engineering that I could work within in the future. I also enjoy working within the Man Eng team as everyone is friendly and supportive should I have any issues. The company culture within BAE Systems is great, there is a real sense of comoradery across the site and everybody makes you feel welcome. The company has definitely exceeded my expectations with the opportunities and support that it has to offer which has allowed me to enjoy my entire apprenticeship.

The apprenticeship I am completing is very well structured/organised. We had an induction during our first week where we met our tutors and had a tour of the facilties on-site before we then began our training by rotating between different areas of the business where we are given tasks designed to gain an understanding of the various types of work we could be carrying out in the future. Support was always readily available and I felt very comfortable approching any of the tutors for help, if you were to not feel comfortable approaching a tutor there was also regular support meetings held on-site that you could attend to get any help you may require. On top of the placements we rotate between we also have further education/college days every Thursday where we are given time to study towards our qualifications. Overall I would say that the programme offered by BAE Systems is very well organised which allows us to learn and progress at a good pace.

Support is always readily available and the tutors were really easy to approach for help (all of the tutors were keen to support us with any issues we had). If you did not feel comfortable approaching a tutor there are also regular support meetings held by mentors on-site that you could attend to get any help you may require. If you required any guidance when completing a task there was always a support channel you could use to seek help. The HR team at BAE Systems also shared the same attitude as the tutors which meant they too were very approachable if you needed any help.

All of the tutors had a keen attitude to support us with any problems we have when completing our qualification work. Support was always available no matter what placement you were working on. If you had to ask for help the tutors would give great guidance on how to overcome the problem. The guidance given was always suited to help us as best as possible without simply solving the problem for us. Overall the attitude towards supporting our development made completing our qualifications very enjoyable and constructive.

I think the qualifications BAE Systems have chosen for our apprenticeship compliment our daily work within our roles brilliantly. I often find myself learning skills and knowledge from my qualification one week and then using them the next in tasks within my role. I have learnt lots of skills and knowledge about aerospace engineering from my qualifications that I would not have learnt from any other source.

BAE Systems offer many extra-curricular activites for you to get involved in such as; careers events held on-site to advertise the apprenticeship to potential applicants, STEM events held at schools which promote the industry to young people who are still discovering what career path they wish to pursue, the German Exchange where apprentices exchange with German students to gain a better understanding of how partner companies operate as well as gain experience working overseas and finally everyone gets the opportunity to participate in fundrasing/leisure activities such as charity runs which are organised by employees on site. BAE Systems also supports apprentices who wish to visit networking events such as those held by RAeS.

Yes

The apprenticeships that BAE Systems offer are outstanding. The apprenticeship that I am enroled on has allowed me to develop skills and knowledge that will aid with my future career aspirations and I have always had a fantastic level of support available to me. The opportunities that BAE Systems has offered me have also allowed me to further develop my personal skills and help others that were in the position I was in just before leaving school.

Advice I would give to someone applying to join BAE Systems would include; Research the history and heritage of BAE Systems Attend/Particpate in one of the STEM or careers events so that you can get yourself known by employees within the company Discuss how you feel an apprenticeship within BAE System could help your personal development and career aspirations, and how your career aspirations would make you suit the work that BAE Systems has to offer