Apprentice Engineer Review

My day to day activities include setting out, taking as built surveys, liaising with and instructing the site team, taking stock of materials and helping to solve day to day challenges. I also do a decent amount of work in the office which includes filing safety documents, using spreadsheets and working on CAD.

Working on site has allowed me to enhance my communication skills, as well as helping me to learn effective ways to communicate with an array of different people. I feel a lot more confident in my self as a result. I have also learnt lots of new things specific to my job role, such as using specialist equipment and computer software.

I am very happy with my apprenticeship and feel I made good choice to come here instead of university. Everyone is very helpful and patient, as many of the team members came through the apprenticeship themselves. I feel like I am a valued part of the team and I genuinely look forward to coming in to work.

I feel that the programme is very well structured, from both a work and college perspective. I did find the college block very intense due to the tight timeframe, however I felt supported the whole time by both the company and the college. I feel that having one college block a year is a very good format as I can focus 100% on either college or work.

I have always felt supported throughout my apprenticeship. The apprenticeship team stay in regular contact, which was very reassuring, especially over the lockdown period. On site, there are many mentor figures that I feel comfortable going to if I need support. because of this, support is very easy to access.

Our first college block took place during the second lockdown so most of the course was delivered over Microsoft Teams. Although this must have been difficult for the lecturers at college, they were always available for one to one calls and always responded to messages or emails. This made the experience much more bearable.

The college course has (so far) provided a good basis for my work on site. Although starting on site was quite overwhelming at first, I started to recognise things I had learnt at college in practice which made me feel like I had some understanding of what was going on. The college work covers a broad range of topics, however site work can be very specific, so it may feel like some elements of the college course may not be 100% relevant.

Social activities have been limited due to Covid, however there are social activities within the company under normal circumstances. There have been things such as quizzes available online during the pandemic. I have also made friends that I do things with outside of work. As part of the qualification, we are also encouraged to attend professional events such as seminars set up by the ICE which provide networking opportunities.

Yes

I feel Bam are a good organisation that look after their employees, especially the apprentices. The apprenticeship is rewarding both personally and financially, and there is excellent scope to progress within the company in the future. There is also opportunity to live and work all over the country, which is a very exciting prospect.

Read up on the company before your interview, as well as the job role you are applying for. Try and find out about Bam projects that either interest you or that are in your local area, so you can discuss them in your interview. The interview is an opportunity for you to get a feel for the company, so make sure you take the chance to ask questions.