Mechatronic Apprentice Review

My role is a mechatronic apprentice achievening a BTEC and NVQ in Advanced Manufacturing Maintenance. Day to day roles depend on what section I am currently at. Currently in engineering services, which involves a lot of administration and networking.

Not to the level I would like, skills developed have been mainly from the academic side. Mentoring has been mismanaged and the culture for apprentices is seen as an after-thought in the workplace.

I enjoy some aspects of the job, but on the whole the apprenticeship scheme has been mismanaged, misaligned and filled with unfulfilled promises, and has not been the type of programme I would have deemed as fitting for a FTSE 250 company.

Structure is confusing. Reviews were not used until late in our second year. Rotations for skills learning were either non-existent or have no basis on our apprenticeship. Now, our only goal is to complete the apprenticeship and hope for the best.

There are certain people who do provide emotional and support, but generally these people are hamstrung and cannot do anything. Support has only been down to regulatory obligations, many issues raised, non listened to.

Now in the middle of our third year, there is another year ahead of us that is going through the same issues we may face. Unfortunately, it is deemed as not a worry unless there are major issues with the year ahead. So no support as of yet, but it is early.

Unfortunately, there has been a misalignment of our roles in the workplace and the qualification we are achieving. The qualification we are working towards is generally based on manufacturing and maintenance. This was based on an ill-fated hope that we would be getting more complex work. (Turret upgrades, Ajax platform).

Some people go to the pub on a Thursday evening. I have tried to get more apprentice competitions (they used to do these before), more involving in STEM in schools, as well as visits to other sites, but was not deemed appropriate for the business.

No

While I believe that the company is undergoing a culture shift and a better working environment. I believe that the culture of apprentices within the workplace has greatly fallen off the mark and would not recommend the apprenticeship as it is poor.

If it is the company you want to work for and not try to learn a trade or progress within yourself, then I believe that it is a good company to work for. However the training, apprenticeships and the progression of the workforce is lacking.