Apprentice Control Engineer Review

My day-to-day role involves accompanying maintenance associates to any faults and breakdowns that may occur on the line. The majority of the time you are able to get involved and help resolve the fault yourself by resetting the system, or by getting stuck in to change a piece of machinery such as a motor. Other times it is best to step out of the way and allow maintenance to fix the issue as quickly as possible.

Nearly all of my current skills I use at work are ones that I have learnt throughout the apprenticeship, both in the training/ college aspect, as well as on the job practice. The skills I have learnt and developed range from using machinery such as mills and lathes, to mechanical skills like changing motors and bearings, to programming that is used in control systems, such as PLCs.

I highly enjoy the programme, personally I enjoy actually working and getting stuck in with the day-to-day maintenance work more than the college aspect. Although, the college learning is very important for continued development throughout the apprenticeship, and helps accompany the work skills gained to make you a more qualified engineer.

The whole structure of the programme works well, the first year is spent in the training school learning and practicing all of the basic skills and knowledge that you will need, and add to, in the remaining three years of the apprenticeship. Year 2 is spent rotating around the different production facilities to experience how they all work, and allowing for you to decide your favourite for the third and fourth years where you get to integrate properly with the maintenance teams.

I receive a lot of support from my manager, they are always there to answer any questions or problems that I may have. I have a review every three months that involves a one-to-one discussion about my side how I feel I am getting on with both the job and college work, and how I am performing from the company side.

The on-site tutors are really good at offering support for the college aspects of the apprenticeship, this comes both during the lessons as well as outside of them. The tutors are always contactable via email or teams to help sort out any issues or topics that you are struggling with. The teaching is of a good standard that will help you to achieve the qualifications.

The qualification taught has multiple cross-overs into the job role that you work in alongside. Naturally some of the modules that you study are not as relevant to the job role, however they give a good background knowledge that will help you later in your career. However most of the modules you learn will assist you when completing the job role, the modules give you solid foundations to build upon.

There are lots of extra-curricular activities to become apart of, some of these are social activities outside of work, giving you a good opportunity to build relationships with fellow apprentices. Another great extra-curricular activity is being part of the inhouse charity team, you are able to plan events within the business to raise money for the company chosen charity.

Yes

The BMW group is a very good employer. Firstly due to the support available to you whenever you may need it, this involves support for both your professional and person life. Secondly due to the shear amount of opportunities there are to learn and grow your career from within the group, just because you have done an apprenticeship in a certain role, does not mean you cannot change to a different role later down the line if you would like to.

Some advice when applying would be to highlight your strengths and experience, and why they suit the role you are applying for, as this, along with your attitude towards the work, are the most important. As an apprentice you are taught the majority of the knowledge required to do your job, so do not feel like you have to be a genius to apply.