Controls Apprentice Review

My role is to shadow maintenance technicians and get involved in jobs to learn skills and knowledge that I will need to become competent in my role. These skills revolve around finding a fault and knowing the route to take to fix the issue, i.e. the most cost effective way to get the machine working again.

Over the course of the past few months, I have learnt new skills and also applied existing mechanical, electrical and fluid power specific skills to an industrial setting. Such as how to wire a motor, how to wire an electrical contractor as well as how to identify the ratings of components to match the application.

The apprenticeship keeps me interested as I am constantly learning new skills and applying my knowledge to try and understand what has gone wrong, why and how it can be prevented. The electronics foundation degree pushes me to learn the theory behind some of the technologies at work (such as a PID controller) which makes the apprenticeship more engaging.

We have recently been given mentors at work so that we get a consistent level of learning throughout the programme to help us progress faster and there is a placement plan in place to provide structure to the time at work. James Watt College have provided a timetable to structure our academic year.

BMW provide plenty of support both for our daily work and the degree work. They are very accommodating of any project work that needs to be done and allow for this in day to day work. BMW also offer some training courses for specific skills/knowledge too. Weekly meetings are held to check progress and if support is required too.

James Watt College provide some support when working towards our qualification. Some of the lecturers will provide a complete resource on topics (such as a Powerpoint or a Word document) to supplement the teaching of a topic. Some lecturers will also ensure that adequate support is available when it comes to completing assignments.

The Electronic engineering degree should help me later on in my career as it provides knowledge that I can apply to industry to understand more complex and specialist topics. Currently, the qualification allows me to understand the more complex topics that are brushed upon during daily work and helps me to fully understand how all of the systems interact with the electronic system in a machine, especially data communication.

BMW offer a range of extra-curricular activities to get involved with. These range from golf events and teams that they organize/sponsor, to races that they sponsor too. Some teams within the business will go out for arranged social events within their department, these tend to be celebrations for events (i.e. Christmas) and sports such as football.

Yes

The company offer a lot of support throughout the apprenticeship and the people you work with are friendly and are willing to help whenever you need it. The daily work is interesting and you have the opportunity to learn a lot throughout your four years as an apprentice at BMW.

Be keen and show an interest in the work that you do, try to get involved in all jobs and help out where you can. Whenever you do not understand something, do not be afraid to ask. As long as you show a willingness to learn, you will do just fine. Good luck.