Apprentice Review

As an apprentice in Airbus, I work alongside the fitters to work on the aircraft as it is getting manufactured. I also must write up a job report of what I did and what standards etc I have used to maintain the quality of the aircraft. I also do Underpinning Knowledge Questions to further enhance my knowledge of aircraft. College consists of one day a week and we need to complete assignments for each of the 5 lessons.

Yeah, I have developed my hand skills aswell as my writing skills. I have also been to a variety of events to represent airbus, and these have helped me to enhance my confidence and public speaking. I have also developed critical thinking skills and have realised how important teamwork is.

Overall, I enjoy my programme, however it is very unorganised and seems to me that it is very improvised when it comes to management and organisation. We often don’t get placed in correct placements, so we often can’t collect any criteria towards our NVQ work. As well as this, the quality gates I feel are unrealistic due to the amount of work we must do.

It’s not very well organised or structured. A lot of apprentices end up in the incorrect areas of the factory and also have no work to carry out. They then get penalised for not achieved set quality gates, however are unauthorised to do any written work in the factory.

I receive some support from my employer. Recently I have had some mental health issues and my manager has been supportive. However, sometimes this is not the case. I was put on medication and he hesitated when I asked for a review from occupational health. I also had to refer myself to staff support. But overall he has been quite supportive

I receive a limited amount of support from my manager. We have one to one discussions about my progress during the apprenticeship, however, as I am on a higher apprenticeship, I feel that additional support should be available to me, that is specific to my course, however this is not the case.

I feel that the qualifications I receive will help greatly in my career at Airbus. I feel that the subjects we study at college are very relevant and I am learning whilst on the job in the factory. This is good because it gives me valuable experience of being in a factory.

Yes. I have participated in a few extra-curricular events during work time. I have participated in school visits, careers fairs, airbus open days and apprenticeship days. I enjoy these activities as they help me to improve my confidence and public speaking ability. They also help to spread awareness of the airbus apprenticeship scheme.

No

The structure of the airbus apprenticeship is not very well planned out, is unorganised and feels very improvised. Due to this reason, I would not recommend the airbus apprenticeship scheme to a friend. I feel they have over employed apprentices and their organisation and planning have suffered because of it.

In order to get into airbus, you should be confident and determined. Ensure that your CV is clear and easy to read and understand. Advice I would give to others joining airbus is to keep out of trouble and get on with your work. However, stick up for yourself if necessary.