Special Vehicle Operations Technician Review

I work in Special Vehicle Operations and I work my way round some of the departments within SVO. I.e. Armour, Rectification, Track and Conversion. I am mainly in manufacturing so build cars, fit trim, rectify quality problems. I also get the opportunity to go on placements in other areas of the company.

I have learnt a lot of new skills such as how an engine works, and a bit about how the electronics system of the car works as well, I have also really developed my problem solving and team work skills and am now much more comfortable presenting to bigger groups of people.

There are days when I really enjoy the work that I do. When I am on placement for example I see new sides of the business and feel really included and treated as more of an adult. However at SVO i sometimes feel irrelevant and unimportant and we are not treated as mature people.

not very well. There are so many of us split across so many sites that I do not feel very well connected to other apprentices or to my work based learning managers. The college really struggled to sort out our classes and we oftentimes had a new lecture every lesson - it was so disorganized! however I believe that JLR are trying to sort this out and sometimes it does flow smoothly - there are just times when it could be an awful lot better.

JLR doesn't have a lot to do with us directly when we are studying at college. we even have work based learning managers that are employed by the college and not JLR for the first 2 years which inst great. Then when we get to plant the managers are often far too busy to pay much attention to us or invest any time in us so we often go unnoticed. and at times this is really unpleasant.

When we are at college they are always helping us achieve our deadlines for assignments and things. However it sometimes takes weeks for work to be marked. at one point we had drawing as a subject and went through 4 different teachers in 2 terms all of whom taught in a different style - we never actually finished this subject it was so badly handled. most of the time though I feel confident that I will get my qualification achieved to the highest standards that I can.

I don't think it really does. the work we do at college was good for learning the basic principles of engineering and automotive manufacture but at the end of the day real life work is totally different and most of what i know I learnt from doing hands on work and not being sat in a classroom.

No, there's no organised events put on by JLR or by college. any socializing I do is organised between me and my colleagues on an AD HOC basis when we feel like it. I have made some good friends but they have all been because of things that I have gone to or arranged of my own accord.

Yes

I feel like working for such a big company like JLR has been an amazing experience and has helped me get my foot in the door of a great lifelong career. I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat but would caution against expecting lots of 1to1 work and training because of how busy its employees are. but JLR is definitely the company to work for if you are proud of British manufacturing and 2 huge global brands.

I would say that grades are definitely not the most important thing to consider when applying. JLR want well rounded, interesting people so make sure you tell them about your hobbies and any out of school qualifications you may have such as DofE. also, stay calm in an interview! everyone here is just a human like you! and we all once sat in the same seat you might find yourselves sitting in!