Advanced Technical Mechanical Apprentice Review

On a day to day basis my role involves engineering support tasks, this can involved a variety of work from the design, test engineering or manufacturing. Once you are given your tasks you have a responsibility to complete those tasks to the best of your responsibilities. You have regular interaction with your team if you need any support.

During my apprenticeship I was able to develop my technical skills to a level where I was able to work independently. The most valuable skills that I learnt were communicating and interacting with colleagues, as I started the apprenticeship straight from school I didn't have much experience of organising meetings and communicating with other in and out of the business, both skills have developed massively during my apprenticeship.

I really enjoy my programme as I enjoy doing the work as I am interested to learn more technical knowledge, the team I work in is supportive and always help when I need it. This programme meets my expectations because I wanted to gain real industry experience while still learning

The first year of the programme is off site, this is where you receive your foundation training. the second year is when you have 1 day with the training provider. when I came into the business for my foundation phase I had an organised placement structure where I was able to gain all of my evidence

I have received a lot of my support from my managers and placement leads as I was able to contact them and get the support that I needed quickly. I have had little contact with the HR team and have found it difficult to get in contact with them when i have needed them.

During the first year I received a lot of support while doing my practical NVQ side, the BTEC side in my first year had less support and was not at the level I was expecting. The support for the BTEC in the second year improved to a level that I was satisfied with. I have had great support from my tutor throughout my development phase and have had regular contact and been supported whenever I have needed it. When there has been an issue that I have needed to contact the training provider for I have found it very difficult to contact them and not received the level of support I would have expected.

I feel that the qualification has helped me in my role as the as it has helped me to understand the fundamentals of engineering that I can use in my everyday tasks. Such as design you need to be able to understand if the part you have design can be manufactured and how.

when I started the apprenticeship I went on an outward bound experience with the other apprentice this included doing outdoor sports such as rowing and rock climbing, i also went on another outward bound experience in my second year. Before covid I used to play 5 a side football with some people that were on the same placement as me.

Yes

Rolls-Royce is a great company to work for where you get loads of on the job experience and support throughout the apprenticeship. There is opportunities to see many areas of the business to gain diverse skills. A lot of the skills I have gained are transferable and important in everyday life.

The tips that I would give someone applying to Rolls-Royce are to gain work experience in the engineering sector to get an idea of what it is like working in an engineering environment is like, this will allow you to have conversations of past experiences with the interviewer. It is also important to research the company and find out what products Rolls-Royce make as these questions are asked during the interview stage.