rolling stock technican apprentice Review

Job title: Rolling stock technician apprentice. daily tasks are different every week as we are placed in all of the different locations of out depot. I feel some of these are really good, however after spending a week in some departments it seems to be irrelevant. Tasks include, working/shadowing other staff while working on the trains. working in stores, seeing how it is run and all the different components stocked. working in facilities, fixing items that aren't train related around the depot. Working in the offices in order to gain an understanding of what is done in them. Responsibilities include working in a safe manor, wearing the correct ppe, arriving at work on time, fit to work and dressed appropriately.

qualifications: while a year and a half into the apprentership I have gained a level 3 BTEC in mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as a level two NVQ. Currently studying a HNC in electrical engineering and a level three NVQ. Within the depot, I have learnt about the basic systems on the trains we fix, carried out a vehicle basic training course, as well as a doors course and continuous improvement course.

When in work some of the staff are fine, work hard and explain what they are doing to you in the correct manor, staff like this are really helpful and a pleasure to work with. However some days we can end up with staff who clearly don't want to be shadowed or look after an apprentice. These days become long and frequently confusing as they aren't willing to explain as much even if you ask them questions. There are 4/5 different shifts that do 5 on five off. this means that we aren't always with the same people, therefore we get to meet a wide variety of people. as stated above, I feel that some of the placements we do aren't relevant to us once we have done them for a week or two.

I feel that this is very dependant on who is working and the circumstances, there seems to be very little positive feed back when you are an apprentice, there seems to be very little feed back over all. This makes you wonder what people feel about you or if they appreciate your efforts.

we get a schedule emailed to us weekly. However the staff aren't aware that we follow this. Therefore although they try and put structure in due communication issues it doesn't work as intended.

we see our training provider once every 3 ish months, however we are aware that if we have any issues then we are able to contact them about the issues at hand. However there is always a long waiting period for a response if we get one.

The support we receive is at a satisfactory level. No one goes out of their way as they do just see us as apprentice. However we know the relevant people to talk to if we have any major issues,

as an apprentice we are intitaled to a government minimum wage, our company provides us with this and more. This covers all of the requirements of life (rent, travel and food) we are aware that if we meet the set criteria we are able to gain a pay rise as well.

we are frequently made aware of the external working events, however a lot of these aren't local so are awkward to get to, meaning that we don't attend many of them unless they have been marked as mandatory.

No

Neutral about the above question, although the company does have its positive aspects there are also a lot of downfalls, arguments and stress within the working environment.

When applying to Siemens make sure you know where you want to go, it is an incredibly large company, and has many different fields of work you could enter. when applying, being assessed and intervewing make sure you have looked into the company, know about the different positions, the potential promotions, make it look like you are intrested and keen to become part of Siemens,.