Mechanical Designer Review

Mechanical designer on the 'liaison draughtsman' design team. The role features a lot of 'firefighting' problems on a day-to-day basis. We liaise between the drawing office and operations (build) and determine whether any issues from build need to be taken to the drawing office or can be resolved by us.

90% of my acquired engineering knowledge i have gained whilst doing this apprenticeship.

I very much enjoy/have enjoyed this apprenticeship program.

The programme is well structured completing a national diploma in the first year, and a HNC in years 2 and 3 (academic side) and being on site from years 2 onward (practical side) covering a wide variety of placements.

We have a dedicated early careers support team who we can approach directly for well being questions and we have placement managers who we can contact about issues regarding placements/current work

The support for qualifications comes directly from Furness College and all the lecturers at both ND and HNC level i found to be very helpful.

I think there's many aspects of the qualifications that are applicable to my 'on the job' role, particularly HNC's 'engineering drawing & design', 'Computer aided design', and ND's 'engineering drawings', and 'engineering materials'. These subjects featured topics such as drawing conventions, GD&T, and CAD application.

There are social activities you can organise within your apprenticeship cohort however a little more formally, there's also the opportunity to become a STEM ambassador and become involved with STEM activities in the local area.

Yes

Absolutely. I think the apprenticeship programmes they offer and the type of engineering work they endeavour in, make it both an interesting and unique place to work.

I'd say ensure you have researched a general overview about the company and submarines with their application in the Royal Navy. The better prepared you are, the easier you'll find the application process, assessment days, and interview.