Advanced Substation Apprentice Review

My Job role at the end of my apprenticeship is to work in a high voltage substation maintaining and servicing the equipment. As an apprentice it involves a mixture of coming up to national grid's training academy at Eakring to carry out courses and other relevant qualifications, along with on the job time to gain experience

Most of the courses and time so far on my apprenticeship have been developing existing skills which I already have however these needed to be developed to fit the job roles that I am required to do. This is a very hand on job so developing good hand skills is essential.

I feel like the program that I am on is challenging me to a good level so that it is still enjoyable but I still feel a bit of pressure there. If the apprenticeship was to challenging then this would not be something that I would not enjoy as much.

The program that I am on is mostly done at least a month in advanced for my training which means that I can communicate with my team on site to see what jobs are happening which I need to complete for my logbook. Sometimes it can be annoying when you miss a important job on site but this can be done at another time in the future.

At National Grid there are many ways that we can receive support if we need it. For example this can be from my manger at site or at the academy, the employee assist program which is always there or I can raise an issue in my 10 weekly reviews which are carried out to check my progress.

I feel that I receive sufficient support where required and would know where to ask if I did not understand something. The teaching which is carried out teachers more than the required standard to pass a test to make sure that we fully understand what is being taught to us so we can use it in the future.

The qualification that I gain from the training center teach me the skills which I require to carry out my role on site. As I progress through my apprenticeship I am gaining more and more skills which I can apply to job role and further on my knowledge of the equipment which we have

There are things to get involved with at work while away at the academy to keep everyone involved. This involves working as a group to plan activities to plan things outside of work. As part of the academy there is a bar area attached which has a pool table and other games

Yes

It is a really good place to work and allows you to progress/ develop yourself both in skills and knowledge. This not only sets you up for a good future career with loads of future prospects but also develops yourself as a whole person. If I could go back i would definitely do this apprenticeship, I have no regrets

The main piece of advice that I would give to someone is to learn as much about the company you can ready for your interview. When someone is successful for the job I would tell them to apply themselves as much as possible and take all opportunities which are presented to them.