Maintenance apprentice Review

Our daily activity includes shadowing maintenance associates, learning the skills required to perform in our role. In my 3rd year, this may include working with robotics from ABB and Kuka, or working with other industrial equipment such as Electric monorail systems, drop sections, pneumatic equipment, welding guns and many more.

During my 3 years as an apprentice at BMW I have learnt a variety of skills. Starting in the first year with basic electronics such as motor testing, household circuitry, PLC’s. following onto the basics of metalwork skills such as welding, lathing and machining. In the following two years I have learnt a significant amount about working with robots and industrial equipment, with pneumatic, hydraulic and electrical features.

I enjoy my program more than I expected, there are tougher aspects depending on your intuition and prior experience. Completing a HNC alongside BMW coursework is testing my time management, however it is a good opportunity. Completing a 4-year course is going quickly, however spending 2 years rotating between buildings does seem wasteful.

The course is now well managed, in principle we spend: - 1 year in the training school completing college-like work. - 2 years rotating between 3 buildings, shadowing maintenance & learning the equipment in each building. - 1 year (4th year) is spent in the final job role. The 2 years of shadowing does feel unnecessarily long, many of us would prefer to spend 2 years in our final placement instead (still shadowing, just in one place). we do continuously learn skills, however it does feel wasteful spending time in a place we’re not going to work. We have struggled with apparently having too many apprentices, meaning we are completing months in areas in what seems like a 'time-killing' maneuver with no relevance.

We receive adequate support from our training managers, many are happy to help as much as they can. A great improvement over the past few years. However, in our placement, sometimes apprentices are overlooked or simply not considered. Generally, our support is good but there have been oversights which have impacted us significantly and little to no accountability.

BMET has let us down at several stages, especially with the HNC. As a year group we have consistently been disregarded and condescended. Not something we would expect from a higher-level training provider. Having started late, concerns were raised regarding workload and our tutor. These concerns were simply ignored or received a patronizing response. Recently, the outcome is seeming a little brighter however this is from our BTEC tutor stepping up, little to no help from BMET

I feel that our initial BTEC was relevant to the course. Having previously completed a BTEC I found the course straight forward with no surprises. At this point in the apprenticeship, there were no issues with BMET. Moving onto HNC, I feel little correlation between the course and our job role however I cannot deny that it is a useful opportunity.

BMW (as of 2020-21) provides little extracurricular activity, of course this is subject to Covid. Previously we have had opportunities to represent BMW at school careers fairs, however I don’t think this counts? The mountain challenge is advertised to us, however there is little interest in the event. hopefully these opportunities increase as Covid restrictions ease.

Yes

despite the downfalls of the training program, the course is on the up and provides great opportunities for learning with associated qualifications. there are also steady pay rises over the 4 years and a great career opportunity at the end of the course. For the career opportunity alone I would recommend the course.

I would try and do work experience in the job role. I know this isn’t available to everyone however I feel that the job role itself can be misrepresented and is often advertised by people who have never worked in that role. From doing work experience, I feel that I had much more accurate expectations of the role.