Rail Signalling Design Apprentice Review

I am responsible for creating and checking designs for new installations on the railway. I am also engaged with modifications to some older equipment, some of which is still from the 1940's era. Further to this I attend site for inspections, correlations and to oversee the install of work I have been involved in designing.

Having never worked in the rail industry before a lot of the health and safety and working regulations are new - I have received world class training on tasks I need for my job, I have also been supported to gain licenses I require. TfL have also sent me on external courses with college to gain a BTEC level 3 in electronic engineering.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my programme on the whole, clearly there are both good days and bad which is true of any job. I have always been given the opportunity to grow and develop in what I do and have found the flexibility to be great in having a good work and home life balance.

When I started with the company I was provided with a schedule of placements and expectations across my three years on the scheme. The company also has an external supplier for some of the portfolio side of my apprenticeship - sadly this wasn't arranged until my second year which meant I was starting on the back foot, other than that the organisation is great.

My employer has been very supportive on the whole, the main exception is owing to the covid pandemic - we have all been sent home and told to work from there with very little support or understanding of personal circumstances. Pre-covid the company has been brilliant and I have always had the training or equipment required... HR are always accessible and my manager shows great support.

This has to be the worst part of my apprenticeship scheme. My time at college was just awful, one tutor was brilliant and he tried to make up for the short fallings in other areas however, the administration and timetabling didn't make trying to study easy at all. Since leaving the college I have had further issues with them as they are meant to continue with my training however I have had very little input.

Owing to the poor input from my training provider it is hard to say as I only just managed to get through the course and achieve my BTEC. Fortunately, the Underground have their own suite of training courses and if you need to know something for your job they will train you up for that.

There are a lot of engineering society events, these range from seminars, lectures and talks to meet ups at the local pub with members from past and present. TfL also have various sports teams and even have an inter company football league, with each business area having a team. There is also the graduate and apprentice committee who arrange socials and learning opportunities.

Yes

Transport for London are a brilliant, supportive, and inclusive organisation. They provide the necessary training for my role, they have a great apprenticeship salary with steady progression, one is also able to join the pension scheme and have access to all the employee benefits from day one at the company. Another great perk is the employee oyster card.

I would advise that anything you write in your application is completely true, as you will have to talk about it later down the line while going through the process of group assessment etc. I'd also suggest you don't expect anything instant - the onboarding process takes a long time and will require you to chase up HR at various points... don't be afraid to chase but don't be doing it daily either.