Maintenance Technician Review

on a day to day basis I am responsible for maintaining the equipment within the Assembly building at Mini Plant Oxford. This entails reactive maintenance during production hours, attending breakdowns and equipment malfunctions. At the weekend this entails performing preventative maintenance such as equipment servicing and investigating issues from the previous week.

Over the past year I have developed my existing skills. Having being put on a final placement, I can begin to learn the equipment I will be responsible for in the foreseeable future. This has allowed me to gain a greater understanding of my job roles responsibilities and increase my skillset.

In the past year, the enjoyment of my programe has increased significantly. Being on shift has been a tough adjustment but the longer weekends allow me to enjoy life outside of work more and better recover from the working week. I have also been placed with a great team who I have no issue working with.

I believe the structure of the programme as a whole has improved in recent years. In the last 12 months being a 4th year apprentice, I believe the programme is well structured. my colleagues and bosses to-be are keen to aid me as much as they can so I can finish my apprenticeship at the level they require.

I receive a fair amount of support from my employer. especially being at the end of my apprenticeship, they have supported me both inside and outside of work to develop me into a productive member of the team. They have supported me the same as they support long term team members.

The training provider has helped me adequately working towards the necessary criteria for my apprenticeship coursework, who have helped me in and out of working hours. This has been massively overshadowed by the catastrophe of a HNC programme run for us over the past 2 years, which has apparently been upheld solely by the goodwill of another tutor overworking.

performing my role I see minor correlations. the workshop activities performed in the first year were beneficial as they gave me a fundamental understanding of machining, welding, pneumatics and mechanical skills. however the skills learnt fall far short of being implemented in the real world, here at least. some further emphasis on welding especially would have been beneficial.

My shift in my work placement tends to hold social events at their own accord to commemorate events (Christmas, birthdays). however I'd say I've rarely been offered extra curricular events directly from BMW group as 'team building'. this doesn't bother me too much as we hold our own events.

Yes

the hours are long but the workload is relatively easy overall. the money is good considering the shift. working weekends isn't ideal but the time off makes up for it. the qualification is easily achievable and a gateway into BMW group. I believe this is undersold when starting the course.

I would better investigate what you're applying for. the apprenticeships especially are miss sold by people who haven't (yet) worked in that role. I reinforced my choice by doing work experience in the department and seeing the kind of work I'd be performing before dedicating 4 years of my life to something I wont enjoy.