Design Graduate Apprentice Review

My role varies dependant on the time of my apprenticeship. I spend a certain amount of time (currently 3 months) in different departments such as electrical or industrial engineering. Throughout each department the work varies as well as the responsibilities that are given. As you go into third and fourth year the work requires and more responsibility

I have learnt an abundance of skills. One the main life skills i have learnt is learning what it is like to be in a place of work and about things such as professionalism. I have also learnt technical skills in various different tools used in engineering as a whole.

There are aspects of the programme that i have enjoyed such as the fact that i get to go around the company in different projects and experience different team environments which is something that would not have been possible through attending full time university. However some aspects of the programme such as the possible workload it can be tough to get properly situated in any one team as you are always moving to another one so soon.

I think the programme is structured decently well overall. There are reviews every quarter and help available should you need to access it. There is also areas where the organisation could be improved, as there have been times where i am told to contact someone about having a rotational placement and they are not aware they will be having an apprentice in the near future which has lead to periods of no work/learning.

I receive support from my employer in the means of university assistance. I have struggles with mathematics and have been assigned a mentor, someone who has been through the university course and achieved well in the mathematics class. This mentor i can contact personally to set up meetings an go over any work that i would like to. I also have high functioning anxiety that has created issues on occasion and whenever i have contacted my training officer i have been treated well.

My university course with Strathcyde has a variety of ways that are designed to help you. These however do not work for everyone as they all lack being able to go over specific examples in depth and to provide alternative ways of approaching the same issue. This is something that has lead me to not enjoying the university side of the programme as if anything is requested the general approach to specific assistance is not great.

I feel that the training has little to no relevance to my role in work. For example you learn all of the theory behind how something works but in reality that does not help you use it. There are always specific examples where there is overlap between the theory and the practical but for the most part there is very little.

There are usually many different activities on a weekly basis provided by my employer. These are sent out in emails that detail times and locations for each of the activities. This has however been lessened due to the global pandemic but as things are beginning to return to normal it is evident that more and more opportunities are beginning to present themselves.

Yes

While there are a couple of things that arent great, there are many many more that are. Leonardo provides flexibility with both where you work (home or office) and when you work that allows for extra freedom in day to day life that other companies just do not provide for their emplloyees.

The best advice that i could give someone when applying to leonardo is to fully consider what tole it is they are applying for, that it is something they do really want. And if this is the case, then place yourself into that mindset for when you are filling out any forms, doing interviews or anything of the sort. Apply yourself fully to the application process and also try to take it as an experience in the case you do not get the job.