Aerospace Engineering Degree Apprentice Review

I am currently in the initial training phase of my apprenticeship. Here I am being taught a wide variety of engineering modules to form a basis of your engineering knowledge. One of the modules included a practical phase, in which we spent time doing tasks in both a Mechanical and Avionics Workshop. Once a week we attend University.

During my time on the apprenticeship so far, I have developed both my engineering practical skills when I was in workshops as well as professional skills as well. This includes developing my skills at delivering presentations which will aid me when I am on placements. I have also been able to develop my problem solving and communication skills.

I am really enjoying the program, and I find it very interesting and the content we have learned in the modules is very varied. At the moment I am still in the initial training phase, but I am looking forward to putting the skills I have learned into practice when I start placements.

From an overview, the programme is well structured. You have a weeks induction at the start, before entering the training phase. Once the training phases is completed you start placements. We attend Uni online on the same day each week, and we have access to a timetable which gives a brief overview of what we are doing each week of the training phase for the duration we are there.

Support is available to you throughout the apprenticeship programme. We frequently have training sessions which inform us of what support is available to us and how we can access it. Each cohort has a skills coach who is with them for the duration of the apprenticeship and is a good point of contact throughout the apprenticeship.

When you attend Uni, you are in small lecture sizes which makes it easier to get help when you need, and also means they deliver the content in the lectures at a pace which suits your group. You also have access to the support and resources they provide and can you can email your lecturers if you have any questions.

At the moment, I have found that some of the information we have learned at Uni has helped us at work and the same for some of the content covered in the training modules has helped our understanding for Uni. As we move further into our Uni course, I believe the content we will learn will link into what we need for our job.

There are some activities you can volunteer for like including to become a STEM ambassador. There are some extracurricular activities that are organised by individuals and there colleagues but there are not that many. As we get further into the apprenticeship, there could be more opportunities we are not aware of yet.

Yes

My experience of BAE Systems so far is that they are great employer to work for. The environment and atmosphere is great, and there is lots of support available if you need it. We are presented with lots of amazing opportunities and chances to network with other apprentices and employees from across the business.

My main advice would be to be yourself and be authentic. A good way to explain yourself during your interviews and applications is to include experiences and opportunities of events and projects you have done previously or examples of when you have shown various skills to link to the questions they are asking.