Design Engineer Degree Apprentice Review

My role is a design engineer. I work using CAD software to find Engineering solutions, to formalise parts used on the shop floor, and to validate real life engineering processes. On a day-to-day, I split my time between using CAD, interrogating real life parts on the shop floor, and discussing solutions with colleagues, both virtually through Microsoft Teams, and in person.

Before I started my job, I had some experience using CAD from a creative perspective for my A levels. Now into my second year, I have learned an abundance of CAD related skills, which put me in a great place for transferring into any design engineer role. Furthermore, working in a corporate environment has taught me a lot about working life, structuring my time effectively, and meeting and working with new people.

My programme is split roughly 75/25 between working a job and studying for my degree. When it comes to my job, I can firmly say that I enjoy my job. Every day is a learning day and I genuinely come into work most days looking forward to what I hope will be a productive day. When it comes to the degree, as it is designed to be broad - which is overall a good thing - I do find that my enjoyment levels vary - with some modules capturing my interest, and others not so much. On the other hand - I do find that my unique ability as a degree apprentice to apply my degree to my job does help increase enjoyment levels.

In a similar fashion to my previous answer, the organisation of my programme is slightly different between job and degree. On my career side, I feel like I know how the next few years will look, I know what I can do to improve and I know how I would like my career to progress and feel empowered to have conversations to enable a move in that direction. On the degree side, whilst the structure of the training centre can sometimes be a little questionable with some variation in quality of lecturers, I would say that generally I know how the next few years will look, I know what is required of me, and I know how I can move towards achieving my degree.

My employer provides a remarkable level of support. When I first started my job, I was assigned a buddy - someone to help me through the first few months of working. This made my introduction to the working world a far easier experience than it might have been otherwise. Not only was it job related support, but my buddy helped me settle into the community and enabled me to feel part of the team. Additionally, throughout my job, I feel enabled to have open conversations with my line manager whenever I need, plus we have a regular 121 meeting to bring up any concerns, keep track of my progress and provide any general support I may need.

The support received from my training provider is variable. Some lecturers show a genuine desire to help students to achieve the best grades they can - they demonstrate a care that enables me as a student to feel able to come to them with any concerns that I may have. There are also multiple feedback systems that enable relatively easy communication of any concerns that I may have. One example of this is the personal tutor scheme that enables relatively regular meetups to discuss progress and any concerns. However, some of the lecturers do not fit this category as well as others, and sometimes the feedback that is submitted is not acted on as quickly as it could be.

As it should be, the training enables a broad understanding of being an engineer - studying modules that enable you to work towards being a well rounded engineer. However this means that in the short term, it often feels like the training towards my degree doesn't obviously enable better performance in my role at work.

There are multiple opportunities to get involved in extra-curricular activities at work. There is a board games club that meets weekly - enabling a time to decompress and enjoy time making new friends over a board game during lunch time. There is a running club that meets weekly, a group of people that meet to play football together, a green team that meets to discuss ways that the company can improve their environmental awareness, as well as various other clubs. In addition to this, there are opportunities to spend time as a team outside of work such as the annual Christmas party, Family Days where family members are invited into the factory to see what we get up to. Also, on a slightly more informal basis, everyone is always willing to have a nice chat about a common interest, for example I regularly have chats with colleagues about going out on a bike ride - people show a genuine interest in forming friendships at work.

Yes

When you are able to come into work each day knowing that you are about to spend your day having an impact on something that is genuinely meaningful - designing just a small component in a vast machine that enables serious developments in the healthcare industry is a huge motivator that enables you to feel accomplished and a part of something that has an impact each day. Additionally, you won't be able to find many more caring corporate companies than Siemens Healthineers. A corporate company is by its nature in danger of becoming a machine with lots of workers that it doesn't really care about, but Siemens Healthineers has a beautiful balance in which it enables you to feel like part of a team that cares, whilst also part of a major movement in the healthcare industry. In addition to all this, given its location (situated so close to Oxford is a real blessing), its position in the economy (MRI will always be a much in demand industry regardless of the surrounding economy) and its focus on innovation into future technologies, it also has a strong pull to any young engineers looking for a positive introduction to the workplace.

When you apply to work for Siemens Healthineers - some advice I was given - be yourself, do not try to be what you think they want from you, what they really want is a genuine person. Show a genuine interest and passion for engineering and innovation - an enthusiastic applicant might be a more attractive proposition to an employer than an academic applicant (that said, do your research, show them that you care about what Siemens is doing). Demonstrate that you are ambitious - you have hopes for the future. You will care about the work that you would do for them. Show them that you are able to persevere, you are persistent and passionate about what you do.