Light Commercial Vehicle Technician Apprentice Review

Emptying bins and general tidying of the workshop, assisting my mentor with his work such as getting tools/bolts/components, ordering/collecting parts, and occasionally independently working. I use the laptops for diagnosis a fair bit including working through a guided diagnosis procedure. Occasionally I will go out on drives to collect/return customer vehicles, and to test drive vehicles. At the end of the day I am responsible for locking up the shed, the back door and turning off the office lights.

I have definitely learnt plenty of new skills and techniques, as well as developing a few previous ones from when I did engineering at school. I maybe would like to be a bit more involved but my mentor struggles to step back and he quite often takes over for no apparent reason which gets pretty frustrating

On the whole, I very much enjoy what I am doing as most of the jobs come with plenty of variety so I am always learning and doing something different. I also do enjoy being hands on and active when working, rather than being sat at a desk. There isn't too much I would change.

I feel as though the programmed is a bit unorganised at times, with college dates and times changing, as well as accommodation etc. The actual structure of the content is well organised though. Our college blocks are a 3.5 day week in person, which follows on from 2 weeks of virtual training. These virtual training sessions are very hit and miss (unfortunately usually miss), and we end up using the college block to go ever missed bits from our virtual training, rather than more practical work, which could be achieved if they made college a full week.

As a site we have 1 designated training laptop, which is good so long as no one else requires it at the same time! Unfortunately on multiple occasions the laptop has been needed by more than one person at the same time, or our training room has been needed my different people for different thing, making it difficult to find a quiet spot. I am provided with a car and hotel for my week at college which is much nicer than having to use my own car. It would be nice to have a set time each week for me to complete some theory work on the laptop instead of being in the workshop, but unfortunately this is yet to happen.

Skillnet have provided me with a programme full of revision material such as presentations, mock tests and tasks. This is very helpful for revising. I also have meetings roughly every 3-4 months with my assigned skill coach to discuss my progress, any issues, any questions, and to prepare me for my end point assessment. This is very helpful as I can contact him whenever.

I'm not too sure what this question is asking.

No there isn't.

Yes

I feel as though the company are fairly reasonable to work for. Perhaps the wages and hours aren't as attractive as other companies around, however the staff are, on the whole, a very nice group who are easy to get along with, and the company does have some nice company benefits, such as your birthday off after 1 year of service.

Be honest, be upfront, make sure it is the right fit for you and matches your best interests. Don't rush your decision.