Technician Review

An overview of my job role here at Babcock involves the assembly and fabrication of tracked military vehicles. Servicing of the vehicles and weapon systems are also key, making sure they are all task worthy. This includes engineering vehicles, recovery and armoured fighting. The assembly line build tracked vehicles from the ground up.

Having worked at Babcock for two years now my tool selection skills have been developed, along with the practical application of actually using it. My abilities using power tools, lifting equipment and jacking equipment have improved so well as. I feel my base knowledge on mechanical parts have also been expanded.

Being on a heavy goods vehicle course is a good way to get a broader understanding of mechanics, however the course does not transfer across to military vehicles very well, making the learning process hard and a little disjointed. Unfortunately there is not enough practical due to long waiting times on parts.

Unfortunately "one size does not fit all" where this course will suit some apprentices in the business, that work on heavy goods vehicles, sadly this is not the case for all. As a result it has taken a long time to sort a vehicle for those apprentices needing a suitable vehicle to work on for college. Which should have been addressed sooner. Having said that the rotations at work are planned out for the whole year so that side of it is well organised.

The training team feel like they are offering support and are trying to address some of the underlining problems we are experiencing through this apprenticeship program. As an apprentice it does feel like sometimes we are on different pages to those in charge. The whole of the training team are very approachable.

On occasion the support from the training provider has felt lacking, however this has changed and the learner provider has taken onboard the comments from the apprentices. They have provided details and answers to our raised questions plus concerns. They have provided learning material and well as a heavy goods vehicle or something similar to work on.

The knowledge gained so far at college has helped a little bit for my role in the workplace. I have learnt about 24v systems that are very relevant to my job role, especially as there is a lot of health and safety behind it. Learning some of the principles of how components work has helped too.

There are a few extra-curricular activities at work to get involved in such as the football team that play and train one to two days a week with the chance to play at matches over the weekend. As well as this, Babcock offers the chance to join their sponsored reserve army unit

Yes

I would recommend Babcock to a friend because despite there being a lot of room for improvement on the apprenticeship, the company does offer a flexible time system where you can build up your hours in exchange for days/hours off, which is very convenient. The pay for an apprentice is very good too.

The advice I would give to others applying for Babcock would be to do your research into the company and get a good understanding of the types of vehicles you will be working on, especially if you are not from a military background. As this will help you with vehicle recognition.