Maintenance Apprentice Review

On a day to day basis as a Maintenance 2nd year apprentice at BMW PLANT Swindon I am involved in many different experiences, these involve mechanical and electrical fault finding, Preventative Maintenance tasks, shop cover, as well as this we undertake a college project within the second year in which you are able to spend a lot of time on. I find the varied tasks on a day to day basis very interesting and it is what I love about the role, it enables me to gain much knowledge and experience.

Since starting the apprenticeship I have gained many skills that are able to benefit me within my job role, and also within life skills also. Since being within my second year and being within the workplace for the majority of the week I have been able to build on many of the skills I learnt within the first year of college, these are mechanical and electrical maintenance, PLCs, Health and Safety within the workplace.

I thoroughly enjoy the apprenticeship programme and I would recommend it to anyone. Being able to gain qualifications while gaining workplace experience which is highly valuable to any person who is starting out their career in the industry. Activities can be challenging however they bring out the best in your knowledge and ability and they are very enjoyable.

The programme is very well structured. As a second year apprentice I am faced with 3 month placements that take place around each area of the PLANT, this helps me in gaining knowledge of different areas of the company and gaining skills around each area that I will be able to take out of my apprenticeship. We have close contact with managers and colleagues which is highly beneficial.

I have gained large amounts of support from the employer, on a day to day basis I am in close contact with my managers and I am able to gain contact and advice when needed. With employees I work with every day they are always at hand to provide me with the relevant knowledge and understanding of a task.

As I go to college once a week I am able to gain person to person support often, Over email I am able to contact the college at all times for any support of guidance on things such as tests and assignments, this is very useful as I can gain help for my subjects in times of need.

In terms of relevancy the qualification is highly connected to the job role. Most training provider lecturers had been based within the industry for may years, they ensure that our experience and learning is both relevant to our job role and our learning within college. All in which helps us perform better on a daily basis.

Within BMW GROUP there are many extra curricular activities that are able to be taken part in, things such as the mountain challenge, charity events, along with open evenings are all available for apprentices to take part in. Due to the coronavirus pandemic this has caused limitations but will be available in the future.

Yes

I would highly recommend BMW GROUP to a friend as I believe the experience and knowledge you gain along with the skills you learned are unparalleled to any other form of learning. The support provided ensures that we progress accordingly and take any opportunities that come out way which is very important to BMW.

Make sure you look at all of the information that is provided to you before going through the process and also throughout as BMW GROUP assists you as much as possible to ensure that you are successful throughout the stages. Make sure that you prepare yourself well for each stage and be sure to be yourself and do not panic if something is to goes wrong during the interview etc, pick yourself up and go again.