Engineering Degree Apprentice Review

I am an engineering degree apprentice placed within different delivery and project teams on a 6 month placement where I undertake engineering, safety and technical documentation work. Often I will be given a long form project for the 6 months and several tasks throughout the team during my placement time.

Since starting in 2019 I have learnt a whole host of skills ranging from professional habits and protocol to soft skills. Presenting and communication information clearly and with the right level of detail and understanding of the subject is key to fulfilling and completing the tasks required of me daily.

I believe that with anything, especially the apprenticeship scheme, you get what you put into it: every placement team and task I have had I have gone into with full enthusiasm and drive and in return I have gained experience and opportunities that I wouldn’t have got if not for this enthusiasm.

The overarching structure is sensible and straight forward, however in practice there always seems to be some form of rift between my employer and the academic delivery partners. However as a cohort of apprentices, we have managed to work around these communication issues to keep a relatively smooth transition between working and learning.

In terms of support as an apprentice, it is great as effectively the whole organization is very aware and welcoming to apprentices with all my team supervisors and colleagues being very patient and forthcoming with information no and guidance where I may need it. There are also many protocols and procedures in place for pastoral and grievance care.

The content is provided to us either online or in person lectures and a majority of the work is self driven with some lecturers being more helpful/contactable than others. It could be better but again as a cohort we have learned to support and fill in the gaps for the betterment of us all.

I think as an engineering SQEP agency, the engineering understanding is required and important to the work carried out. However it is in the unique position of effectively being a publicly owned consultancy, with very little hands on engineering or manufacturing take place. Therefore some aspects of the qualification are more pertinent in day to day work than others

There are a whole host of civil service society’s and clubs operating in and around my working area of Bristol. To name a few there are several sporting and exercise related groups based at the office due to the sporting facilities. On top of this, being an apprentice I am invited to a whole host of outreach and networking events within the organisation.

Yes

For someone who is interested in the world of defence, particularly the British armed forces and military industrial complex, it is an excellent organization to see a whole host of projects and platforms. Personally I have had a great exposure to several operational domains from my time so far and look forward to future opportunities.

I cannot stress enough that despite the important of the technical and engineering knowledge, the most important part of the day to day work is engagement and communication with your team. As a rule the better relations and communications are within a team, the better the work and job satisfaction will be.