Signalling Design Apprentice Review

My role as a signalling design apprentice is to design and produce safety critical drawings for many areas of the railway. This can include wiring schematics for on site equipment to floor plan drawings for signalling centers where we are adding new equipment as well. On a day to day basis things can be changing all the time depending on the task at hand and although the role involves office work, you can also get out on site and help during commissionings, fitting or testing new equipment for projects we are in charge of.

I have had a combination of both learning new practical skills such as fabricating welding and using secondary machinery such as mills and drills as well as developing on my underpinning knowledge by completing the second half of my level 3 Btec extended diploma as i had already started this course at another college prior to my employment with Siemens.

I have really enjoyed getting the opportunity to learn whilst I am earning in such a large company as well as meeting new people and making good connections within the engineering industry. There are times where I wish I had more hands on work in my job but there are times when its the opposite so i think its quite a good balance in all.

From my first interview with the company and even when applying for the role it was set out very clear what i would be learning and what the programme would entail over each year with regular reviews to ensure I am on track for my targets and settling any queries i may have about work or college.

I have received support in numerous ways right from the get go with Siemens. they have supported me financially with all of my education and training courses i have needed to go on. they are also always ensuring the you are happy with work and will always rectify any problems you may have.

My training provider has been very helpful with both myself and Siemens as a whole as they have been very interactive with my company and letting them know of how my courses have been going. they also have pushed for me to do more whilst i have been at college and allowed me to do additional units for both my courses to achieve a higher qualification in my first year.

I believe the hands on skills and the expansion of my knowledge from the courses they have provided have helped significantly in my workplace and they are continuing to help more the higher qualifications I am currently completing. This combined with in house training has made me grasp my job role quite quickly and made some jobs i do much more easier to interpret

Siemens offer many opportunities to get involved with people from all over the country within our company and often do sports events and charity fundraisers which i think helps to meet a lot of new people. STEM projects are also good, going into schools and colleges to talk about your apprenticeship and giving advice to people is also something Siemens encourage people to do.

Yes

Siemens is a huge company to work for with a vast amount of opportunities not just in railway but in all sorts of sectors all across the globe. They offer good training and support along with a good, increasing salary. the combination of all of this makes working for Siemens very enjoyable.

Make sure you look exactly what you're applying for. Although Siemens is a huge company and this is very good, you could be applying for a sector of it you don't know anything about or don't have an interest in so just make sure that you feel it is right for you. Another thing is to make sure you get the best grades possible especially when applying for an apprenticeship as there are numerous online tests and stages which will require your knowledge to be very good. A strong CV is always expected whenever applying for a job but ensure that what you're talking about when applying for Siemens is relevant for that particular sector of work. this can sometimes be difficult, especially when applying for jobs of high importance such as power or mobility where this information is quite limited as i know from experience.