Engineering Technician Review

As a JLR Advanced Apprentice, my job role varies between training on vehicles throughout my engineering workshop with technicians or trainers and general tasks throughout the workshop. As a fourth year apprentice, In a given month I could be taking out engines, helping to Valet Vehicles, assembling battery chargers for the workshop, working on placement in different sections. In the first two years I completed a college BTEC at Warwick Trident College, for the first year this was full time and for the second year this was only once a week. Third year was full time at your selected Plant and fourth year is a mix of placement throughout the workshop whilst completing an NVQ with a work based learning manager from the college.

I have definitely learned skills that involve working on vehicles. Before I joined JLR I enjoyed doing a bit of work on cars here and there but over the four years I have learned a variety of useful skills that will help me throughout my career. Not only have I learnt the knowledge and skills for working on vehicles, but I have also learnt the people skills and the social skills that are involved with working in an ever changing company like JLR.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the program, there are a few things that could be worked on, but these are being discussed weekly with the Apprentice Team. I was lucky to have such a good and friendly cohort, who over time have become close friends. I have been fortunate to work and learn from some of the best trainers in the world and they have given my a lot of confidence in my role. As with the good, there is the bad. I have also worked with some less motivated / worse trainers throughout college and JLR, but this has also taught me other skills such as resilience and tolerance. These skills will be useful throughout life.

I was fortunate to be placed at one of the better Plants for apprentices where the program is structured well and the managers are fully involved in the entire apprentice process. At my workplace there is a lot of support for apprentices and I feel fortunate to met some of the amazing apprentice team that I have. There are a few areas that require a little more work, however seeing as my apprentice program ran throughout the mess that was the Covid-19 Pandemic, I think my program adapted well and that is thanks to my managers and all of the apprentice team involved. Only thing I would say though, is that some of my colleagues that work at different plants have had a very different experience to say the least so sometimes its luck of the draw I guess.

JLR is very supportive in every way. There are online courses sent out to all employees to complete mental health awareness and positive thinking etc. I personally have not had many issues however, I know people who have had injuries or prolonged sickness / trouble at home and JLR has been very supportive and understanding. Like I have said before, I think a lot of this is down to my manager who is very good at looking after their apprentices. Along with this, my Work Based Learning Manager visits my workplace at least 4 times a year I would say, to see how I'm getting along with my college work and how I am in general.

I mentioned this above, however the college send out a Work Based Learning manager to my workplace to check in on me and my progress towards my qualifications for the college and JLR. They also check up on my wellbeing and safety throughout work. During first year where I was at my training provider full time. I was given enough time to complete my assignments and in mitigating circumstances I was given college work deadline extensions. Sometimes the college can be a bit of a mess, organisationally but that's just how some colleges are and its not really an issue.

Back when I was at college the qualification had more automotive training however since then I am pretty sure this has changed to a more general engineering qualification. This is a shame as some of the automotive training was good fun and its a shame that the next generations of JLR apprentices will not get to experience that in the future. There sometime seems to be a bit of a disconnect between the college and JLR but again, this isn't really an issue as all the skills you really need are taught throughout your apprenticeship at work, not at college. However, some of the knowledge I learned at college was useful.

At my work there are CSR, Cooperate, Social responsibility events. These events are all about giving back to the community and building teamwork skills. Outside of work, there are social events organised such as a football sessions and mountain bike sessions. There are also Christmas events organised. That's all I know of for now but I am sure that when I become a technician, I will hear more about these .

Yes

JLR is a big company with good holiday benefits and pay. Along with this, as a car person, JLR makes nice cars which is definitely a positive and helps with my motivation. Also, as the company is so large, there are roles that you did not even know existed, there is lots of opportunities if you're the type of person who performs well and gets there name out there.

When I applied to Jaguar Land Rover, the advanced apprenticeship was not described very well so I did not know what I was going into. Despite this, I have really enjoyed my apprenticeship so I guess that's not really an issue now. What I would clarify though, is that the job that the advanced automotive apprenticeship leads to is hands on, working on vehicles, whether it be fitting and removing car parts, painting cars, fitting seats, stripping cars for sealing, prepping cars for launches or testing etc. It'll be working alongside ex-dealer techs and ex-apprentices in engineering workshops / manufacturing plants. Make sure that's the sort of role you would want to do before joining. I have seen too many apprentices leave prematurely as they didn't know what the job consisted of and after finding out what it is, they realise it is not for them. Best of luck and hope this helped!!