Engineering Apprentice Review

depending on the rotation you are in, you can be doing different jobs, however overall you look after the equipment that build the products and if one breaks down you would go an repair it. if you come in after GCSE then you would also need to attend college once/twice a day per week.

yes everything I can do on site now has been learnt within GSK, this is from the practical knowledge of fixing the equipment to my confidence within the company. you also attend a college course depending on your apprenticeship which you would attend either once or twice a day per week

overall, best decision I made coming to GSK!!! I have made lots of friend / colleagues whilst earning a competitive salary. GSK also do yearly events for apprentices such as something called outward bounds which is a adventurous event for us to engage with all the other people our age throughout the company in the UK and have fun

we have recently had a new manager in the system who has brought fresh ideas and is much more structured, so that we will know what placements we are doing and when we are set to move on, this is better as it always us to focus more on our jobs rather then sorting out the admin work for the new department.

we receive a lot of help from our employers, as when you start you will be paired with a buddy/mentor so if you need help you can ask them. also you are aligned to a tech on your shift (if doing an engineering apprenticeship) who will take you through the system until you are confident to do it by yourself

if you come out from GCSE you will do a B-TEC level 3 (equivalent to A-Levels) however you also need to complete a PEO (practical) which Bedford also do and have managed to get through very quickly and efficiently so that we can spend more time at work instead of at college.

I feel the qualification of the BTEC is very broad for engineering as they take you through both mechanical and electrical engineering so some information learnt on the course is useful and you would bring it back to the workplace however some things are not very useful and can find a bit of a waste for learning.

yes, so we always arrange going out events (if over 18) so we can socialise from different sites. we also have a sports day every year where the apprentices can take on the graduates. also as mentioned before we do a yearly event where the apprentices from your year get together to do a weeks work of fun.

Yes

because it is great fun, you learn a lot from both the employees and the college you are at. compared to other apprentices this is one of the most competitive salaries out there and you know that you are pretty much guaranteed a job at the end if you work hard and show you are willing to work.

ensure you research around GSK and what their values/morals are and what they wish to achieve as its likely they will ask you about it in the interview. be yourself as they can tell if you are acting to be what you think they want, rather then being yourself and open.