First year engineering apprentice Review

I am a first year engineering apprentice and am currently being examined to see what trade I will be best suited for in my career. Daily tasks include having a safety message every morning to ensure that all apprentices gain knowledge and experience in health and safety. Daily interaction is good, everyone on the scheme down here gets on quite well and you always find yourself talking to people and hearing new stories. As far as responsibilities go, we have many as apprentices. For instance we have room inspections every two weeks so it is our responsibility to make sure we pass them.

I have achieved several qualifications within just my first 6 months on the scheme, most at distinction level. I have further developed some of the skills I had already gained in engineering and bettered them. I feel I have learned to become more patient with myself on my apprenticeship, as I have grown to understand that not everything will go my way immediately even though it would be nice.

I love my job. My first 6 months have seen me make loads of new friends and having an absolute ball whilst learning new skills and pushing myself to my limits. The apprenticeship has definitely lived up to expectations in many ways. Of course it is hard being so far away from home, but it will all be worth it in the end.

I feel much more valued as an eDF employee than I expected to. We are always being told about how we are, even in our first year, playing a huge role in the future of the company. We get visits from time to time off of people who are really important in the company which makes us feel more valued. I believe that we get loads of appreciation from our manager, he's a very professional man who you can also have a chat to whenever you need it. He makes it very clear that he cares about us.

Overall the programme is structured well. The training we receive is excellent, and we get plenty of time to study for tests and handing in assignments.

The support we receive is great. Our instructors take their jobs very seriously and have a great attitude towards us, they treat us as adults which was surprising as I had suspicions that we may be treated school children but this was not the case.

Us apprentices receive barrels of support from eDF. I think it is essential we have so much support as we are all living away from home, for the first time for most of us. Personally, I had a close friend of the family pass away earlier in the year, and I can say from experience that the help put in place for me was absolutely astounding.

My salary is enough for me to live on, I cannot afford to travel home as much as I would like, however this was always going to be difficult due to the prices of travel to the scottish borders from Portsmouth. I haven't been able to save much money while in my first year, but I had never intended to, I'd rather enjoy my time down here than sit in the accommodation for two years.

There is an eDF football team I have been involved with this year that was enjoyable. As for the location of accommodation, we are in a good position as there is always something to do whether it be a 10 minute walk or a 15 minute taxi ride away. We have access to a 24 hour gym which also gets used a lot.

Yes

eDF is a great company to work for in my opinion. In just 6 months I've achieved more than I ever did in 2 years of sixth form. I've made loads of great friends for life, worked hard and enjoyed myself while doing it. There are loads of opportunities to move up in the company after qualifying from the apprenticeship.

The application process is tough, but if you want this job hard enough, you have to be able to work hard enough to get it. During assessment days, make sure you portray yourself as a confident person who isn't afraid to get their point across. For the interview, make sure you read up on eDF and do research on the station you are applying for.