Tool Maker Review

Our day will start at 7:15am as a second year Tool Maker, we will turn on our laptops and check our emails, we can then go and see our mentor or technical leader, and ask what work needs to be completed today. They will then guide you through the processes, which could include machining, drilling, welding, or other types of manufacturing techniques.

You are constantly learning new skills to help you develop in your role, you gain more independance in your second year of the apprenticeship where you learn more advanced hand fitting techniques such as grinding using different types of grinders, raidal arm drilling, and CNC machining. You are also going to be given opportunities to further develop new skills by being put on training courses, such as for TIG welding.

Each day is made enjoyable, as you are treated well by all the mentors and managers, you also get to know all of the other apprentices and will start making friends which makes it much easier to get through the day. Plus, each day is different, which means the work rarely gets dull.

The programme is structured quite well as you are given details of what kind of work you will be doing in all of your palcements. some individual days do feel tiresome as there might not be much interesting work to do. but in general there is a good plan for the apprenticeship with details of all the different aspects of the company that you will be exposed to.

The support we receive from BMW is unmatched, as we always have our apprentice manager just a phone call away, who you can look to for advice, support, or any other issues you may be having. we also have weekly meetings on a friday with the rest of the year group so we know where we are all at in terms of progression and learning.

The support we get from our training provider is good, but what makes it slightly difficult, particularly for our year group, is that we live one hour away from the college we learn at since it is in Oxford whereas we work in Swindon, so that can make communication difficult sometimes. but in general the teachers there are vey good and always willing to support you in acheiving your goals wihtin your assingments.

We have learnt a lot of fundamental skills through our training provider such as machining, handfitting, and welding as part of the foudnation year of college. through our btech we indulge more in the theoretical side of engineering by learning principles behind materials, electronics, maths, and more. Sometimes the Btech qualification feels like it wont help you in your role but it still helps you to develop your mind by thinking about problems logically which will benefit you in your role as tool maker when you are faced with issues that you need to come up with a solution for.

There are many extra curricular activities to get involved in, such as the charity team where you can help to come up with events for the apprentices that will raise money for the inhouse charity. There is also the apprentice newsletter team, where you can help write articles about your work which will be published in the monthly letter and will be sent to all the apprentices. There are also other events such as visits to differnet plants, social getherings, skern lodge, mountain challenge, etc.

Yes

BMW has a very strong apprenticeship where you will not only develop skills to become a qualified and capable engineer, but you will also find you develop as a person through all the different activities you partake in outside of your normal role as there are so many opportunities here to develop as the apprenticeship progresses, such as the opportunity to take part in the MOVE programme which is available to you as a 2nd and 3rd year apprentice, where you will be given the opportunity to travel to a different country for a couple of months for a placement in a different BMW plant.

Research the company before any interviews you may have, and make sure you state all the skills you have learnt in oyur previous roles up to this point, and what skills you wish to develop within BMW, and how BMW and yourself will benefit through employing you. Even if you have only just finished your GCSEs and have no previous experience I would highly reccomend you to apply as BMW is accustomed to training a wide variety of people from various backgrounds.