Control Technician Degree Apprentice Review

The apprenticeship revolves around rotating round the various departments which are relevant to the apprenticeship so for example as a Controls/Maintenance apprentice you would be shadowing Maintenance technicians on the different production lines, shadowing Control technicians on breakdowns and picking up skills and techniques along the way in order to have a better understanding of the systems used within a modern manufacturing facility.

I have learnt many new skills such as the ability to use Siemens STEP7 PLC program to diagnose and analyse faults relating to PLC's and understand how complex PLC codes are written and how they work. I've also learnt skills in how to read Electrical drawings and how to use the editing software to make changes correctly. BMW have also provided training courses in doing Risk Assessments, Working from heights, Harness training and First Aid training all done by an external training provider. Additionally new skills have been learnt doing my Foundation Degree which involves Arduino programming so learning a C based programming language.

I thoroughly enjoy the programme as I learn in a practical environment in a modern facility which uses a lot of transferable industry standard equipment such as scanners, cameras, robots, sensors and software for PLC's etc. We get 1 day a week of day release at college to work on the FD so it is a good balance of work and education.

The programme is well organised and structured so the first year being primarily at college we still have regular meetings with the Hams Hall Apprentice manager. On site we still have regular meetings with the apprentice manager to check up on us as well as 10 week meetings with a person from college to check on progress. The placements as a whole are organised in Assembly at least where a placement plan is provided showing us what department we will be spending some time in as well as how long.

Plenty of support is provided from the employer so any issues can be addressed and the apprentice manager is happy to discuss any issues we may have whether it be personal or apprenticeship related. People within departments such as Maintenance managers and technicians are also happy to support with any questions on the systems within BMW.

A couple lecturers are fantastic and very happy at supporting towards the qualification and will even go out of their way and free time to help towards the course. As apprentices we have periodic 10 week reviews with the college where we have a 1 on 1 session to check on progress and how we are finding the course.

Initially in the first year I feel as though the qualifications achieved didn't help to perform better in the roles however in the second and third year as part of the Foundation Degree, there are modules which prompt us into researching and learning relatively useful information for work. Examples of this include the Programming unit and Embedded systems unit where we are given a task to program an Arduino which is C based programming.

There are extra curricular activities such as charity marathon fund raisers and as apprentices you can join the "Apprentice Newsletter" team which comprises of a team of 10 apprentices from all the UK sites who write monthly newsletters which gets sent by email to all the apprentices in the country. Additionally there is an apprentice team across the UK making a website with important apprentice information included.

Yes

I'm currently in the third year of my apprenticeship and feel as though I have learnt plenty from somebody who came not knowing anything about Control engineering and the different systems used in a modern manufacturing environment such as cameras and scanners, tightening systems, oiling systems, motors and PLC's. You are also treated well as an apprentice and on a reasonable salary compared to most other apprenticeships and it also has many different benefits such as a good pension, company car schemes and much more.

Make sure you meet the minimum requirement before applying and having interesting practical hobbies which can benefit you at work puts you ahead. Hobbies such as Arduino programming, 3D Printing or working on a project vehicle and this gives you an opportunity to discuss this in the interview at the assessment day. Standing out and differentiating yourself from other candidates is needed since hundreds of people apply for this role.