Apprentice Review

In the morning we clock in at 8am and being in the inspection department means that I get sent a list of jobs that I need to complete that day or for the week. I then will go and find the Jobs on the waiting racks by this time it is normally morning break. Immediately after break I start inspecting parts. We have lunch at 1pm and then finish at 5 but on Fridays we only work to 12.

I have learnt many new skills since I started on September. I have learnt how to use the coordinate measuring machiene and the shadow graphs effectively for measuring parts. There is also the aspect of problem solving as you have to work out the most efficient and accurate way of measuring a part.

I am really enjoying the apprenticeship at martin-baker. It's is great learning off senior members of staff and they are happy to share their wealth of knowledge. Everyone at MB are very friendly and are happy to help you if you have a problem. All the existing apprentices are also very supportive and very quickly arrange a meal out so you can meet all the other apprentices.

At the minute MB are in the middle of changing training supplier to HCUC and sorting out the details of the courses depending which department your based in. But currently it's been going really well and any problems we report to our managers who will quickly find a solution to the problem. Otherwise all job specific training is delivered in house by someone who is experienced in your department but there only job now is to keep all the department staff trained.

As a MB apprentice you receive a large amount of support from MB as they accept that you are the future of the business and without you they would not have the required highly skilled work force. Any problems we find we either tell the head of HR or our managers and it will get sorted out. If we require any resources or some time to did some college work we are given it.

HCUC provide us with weekly lessons and in those lessons we are taught by a subject specific teacher. The teachers are all ways happy for you to ask questions and support you so you are able to achieve the qualification. If needed they will run some extra sessions if you are struggling or if you missed something important.

My training through HCUC supports me at work as I can understand how the parts may be manufactured and what is actually possible. For example if there is a part machined on a lathe and the drawing asks for a small surface finish I can understand that this is not possible to achieve on the lathes and therefore may need to be sent for blasting.

As a Martin-Baker apprentice you will be regularly invited to the apprentice curry nights which normally involve a curry and then a walk around some local pubs. There is also the chance to go to the air shows and help out with the interactive activities like the model f35 which we can launch the ejection seats out of.

Yes

Martin-baker is a lovely company to work for. They are a family run British engineering firm interested in saving lives of pilots when their plane are about to fall out of the sky. Everyone at Martin-Baker is friendly and always happy to help you out if you have any questions.

When applying to Martin-Baker it is crucial that you can show some kind of engineering experience and enthusiasm. Make sure that you have proof of the engineering things you have done. Martin-Baker are looking for keen hard working people and those that are ready to learn. These attributes are great to express in you application as well.