Mechanical Apprentice Review

Repeating training tasks in a controlled learning environment. Equipment is old and broken through over-use, which makes things harder and takes longer. Most of the training is carried out separately to the real job for the first 18 months to 2 years. There is little to no responsibility in the training environment.

I have learnt some of the basics after starting with very little knowledge. The company majority hire school leavers so they are use to training from the very start. However, those who do have experience are often more knowledgeable than a couple of the less experienced instructors. The skills I have learnt are mostly transferable to new roles. Professionally I have learnt very little as the company handle situations and issues in a questionable manner.

The apprenticeship has become harder to enjoy over time, I enjoy the people I work with but not the people I work for. I do not believe I am treated fairly or with any respect. I had much higher expectations for this apprenticeship than they were able to deliver and that has significantly reduced my motivation and enjoyment of work. Some behaviours and rules are important one day and forgotten the next, depending on who it was and the mood the instructor was in at the time which can be confusing and unfair.

After attending a well structured interview and training from the start it seemed promising that it was a professional environment. However I believe it was a deceptive start to the role as my training has not followed much of a plan. The end goal is clear and that it worked towards but in an unclear path that seems to be made up as we go along but they do not like apprentices to get ahead as there is no contingency in place.

We have monthly meetings with our instructors but that does not mean they happen monthly. They are just a brief chats about progress and issues are discussed. When having issues with our daily tasks we are quite often left to figure it out ourselves as the instructors are busy doing other things or hard to find.

My training provider and my workplace have almost no communication and that makes it harder for us. We have a large workload for our qualification and have to balance that with the work hours and the at home study time we have been doing through Covid-19. The training provider was unprofessional and unstructured.

A small amount of the units we study are relevant to my everyday role in the workplace. It includes a lot of theory work and written tasks that are not transferrable to the role I have which is completely practical. The qualification is for a Level 3 whereas most employers would be offering a Level 4 as minimum.

As apprentices we are kept distanced from the rest of the company so there is little opportunity to involve with the other employees. Within the apprentice academy there is some organised events but they are not very popular to my knowledge. But understandably, this has been much harder to maintain through the pandemic.

No

I wish it was not recommended to me. The company have not acted fairly in many situations and instructors behave unprofessionally at times. The pay is below average for the roles and the area we are located. Other companies would offer a better qualification, whereas we were told we could get a Level 4 once we started but this was retracted a year after starting. For a large company it does not feel we are given the support or care that would be expected.

It is good for young people with no other job experience but for more mature people it can feel as if you are back at school. The pay is not enough to support yourself with rent and living costs in the area. It is very slow paced, inside and out of the apprenticeship scheme. Don't trust the professional and modern perception from the interview as it is not an accurate representation.