Trainee Engineer Review

My role day to day involves training to become a power systems engineer, working on high voltage equipment. I work in a small team of about 10 people, i work closely with the fitter, engineer and team leader in order to gain an understanding of all the roles. The main focus is on my future role which will be achieving safety from the system in order for work to take place.

I am building on skills i have already learnt in previous rolls, i have gained a greater understanding of HV electrical equipment both on a practical and theoretical level. The emphasis of this course is theoretical with the bulk of the practical learning happening after the course has finished.

I very much enjoy working with my team, they are very supportive and will take time to impart as much knowledge as possible. The group of trainee engineers in my year are very helpful and i have made some great friendships, this is very enjoyable. The company has a very good safety policy therefore you feel safe at all times. The course is much more theory based than i expected but will hopefully progress to more practical based learning as the course progresses. I am enjoying the course but the course is very demanding therefore has a large impact on your life outside work, giving a large amount of personal time to complete work. This can be very demanding if you have a young family.

I feel i am appreciated by the team leader at my substation who always try's to involve in all aspects of work and will go out of their way in order to ensure that i am able to carry out my training with as little stress as possible. The national grid also fund membership to the IET, and will fund professional membership throughout your career at NG.

The plan for year is agreed in September therefore you know where you are most of the time, the plan can change but this a rare occurrence. Any changes to the plan are often sent out well in advance, and if you have prior plans these are accommodated. I have an assigned mentor who deals with any day to day problems i may encounter and will escalate these if they cannot solve the problem themselves. My work is reviewed by my mentor on a regular basis and a review is carried out by a trainer every 3 months.

I receive good support from my local mentor and the trainers at the Eakring training center. The support at university can vary, the learning development center offer great support but this is hard to obtain due to the hours it is available and the work load of the course. Tutors at university can be contacted by telephone to help with any questions you may have.

I receive good support from my substation team leader and mentor. I am offered guidance with any parts of the role that i require. The guidance i receive for problems i encounter vary with the area of business that they occurred in, on the whole the support i receive is very good.

The wage offered by the company for this training role is comparable with other leading companies within the industry. The company offer many other benefits with the role such as a company car, hotel and food costs when staying away.

There are many opportunities that are available such as going into schools or helping on recruitment days. The company are also very supportive of any charity events or fund raising and will also donate. Throughout the course i haven't had time to participate in any opportunities outside work due to workload.

Yes

The national grid are a very good company to work for, and the benefits they offer are great compared with other companies. I am hoping for a long career with the company.

You should prepare by learning about the electrical transmission industry and also have a good knowledge of mechanical and electrical engineering. The interview/ assessment day is quite and intense process, comprising of many different task. You also need to be prepared to commit yourself to dedicating a proportion of your time outside of work to carry out work tasks.