Toolmaker Review

My role includes working on plant and attending college once a week. On a day-to-day basis we work on an assortment of different tasks ranging from designing and building something entirely new like a table to doing maintenance on dies ensuring that everything is working properly, everything is secured and that there is nothing that could turn into a problem.

During my time both in the company and at college I have learnt many new skills and developed other skills that already existed. I have done a crane training course so that I can work with cranes in the company. I have also learned many skills like hand fitting, machining, welding and a variety off electrical skills. I have managed to gain more confidence whilst working and have develloped my team working skills.

I enjoy my programmea lot. The work environment is great, a place where work gets done but everyone is friendly and has a good sense of humour. Everyone is willing to help if they see you struggling. My team is supportive and very helpful we all help each other as and when we can. I really enjoy working here.

My programme is quite well organised. The induction is quite indepth ensuring that they give you background information on the company as well as what you willbe doing. Rules are clearly explained to everyone. The support we receive both whilst working and training is unbelievably good. When studying/training our lecturers try to be as organised as possible.

Our manager provides us with as much support as we need and if they are unable to provide us with some information that we need they are quick to tell us who to speak to to gather the informtion we want/need. Our mentor as well as our colleagues are all willing to jump in at any point if we are seen struggling to give us a helping hand.

Our tutor at college tries to provide us with as much support as possible and tries to give us the right guidance when we need it. If our lecturers see us struggling they give us nudges and hints to push us in the right direction without explicitly giving us the answer.

With college we have gained a variety of qualifications but from each qualification we only use a bit of the information in our role at work. For example we learn a lot about electrical at college but in the workplace as a toolmaker we don't work with electrical. However, with the same qualification we learned all of our hand fitting and machining skills which we use on a day-to-day basis (more so the hand fitting than the machining).

At work there are a handful of extra-curricular activities in which we can get invloved. One of these activities is the mountain challenge which is a trip including a day long hike in which you work in your team to make your way to as many milestones as possible to best the other teams.

Yes

BMW as a workplace is a great place to work full of a lot of opportunities. There are many friendly people. The work environment is very healthy full of supportive people. BMW allows us to make healthy long lasting friendships and provides the opportunity to learn so much stuff. It really is a great place to work and I couldn't imagine myself working anywhere else.

When applying for an apprenticeship the application process can take quite a long time including interviews and such. The time between applying for the apprenticeship and getting interviewed can be months. Also, it can take a fairly long time for them to get into contact about whether you got the apprenticeship.