Advanced Apprentice in Composite Engineering Review

Having finished my time at college and now in my third year I am in my home location where I will spend the remainder of the apprenticeship and hopefully move into employment at the end, I spend my time learning from the operatives and taking part in improvement project within the factory.

During my time at the factory I have spent my time in all of the segments, learning how to produce a blade from start to finish. Some of the skills I have learnt include sanding/grinding, filling and laminating repairs and creating various laminate types. I have also learnt a lot of theory skills from my time at college, such as business improvement using LEAN tools and approaching problems with a broader scope to enable more effective solving.

Most days I love my time at work because I work with some amazing people and I feel that I am a part of the team and valued but there has been situations when it feels like our voices aren't been heard and sometimes ignored, such as when we have problems regarding NVQ. It's the small annoyances and lack of communication that brings the programme down.

Tying into the question above, the biggest drawback has been the structuring of the programme, every decision has been made as something has come up rather than been planned for in advance. In most cases this hasn't been an issue but sometimes it has held us back from been able to progress at a stage that we feel comfortable with rather than feeling like we are falling behind.

On the bright side, my employer does generally support us, such as when choosing the home segment for the final year. We each put three choices forward and every one of us got our first choice, given us the stepping stone to progression within the segment area. Another example of support was during our time at college and any problems we had with the lessons or work that weren't sorted by the college were raised and enforced by Siemens.

The majority of the time our training provider was great with supporting us and pushing us to achieve the higher grades in units, there was the odd occasion and the odd tutor that would make things difficult, such as giving ridiculously short notice for assignments when we had others to do and NVQ to keep track off.

I have a greater understanding of the whole process than most in the factory, mostly in part because of one unit that comprised of writing the whole process in great detail, including the theory behind specific designs, such as balanced laminates, sandwich structures and types of laminates used. This information is great to refer back to and also has allowed me to see links between the segments and how one can impact another.

8) There are plenty of social activities among the segments and a tailored health programme that organises walking events, football matches and performs health checks. There are also plenty of work-specific social platforms that enable people to share events as well as any news related to what is going on at work.

Yes

Overall the company has amazing benefits that alone are worth working for, such as its great pension scheme and a very good wage, especially when compared to other jobs in the local area. On top of that there is the advancement opportunities not only through the leadership teams but also between segments.

I would say to never think small, because it's a company fuelled on big ideas and they are always looking for improvements that help the business to move forward. I would also say to keep an open mind about the different segments, although they might not necessarily seem the best, you may find that they have very interesting parts to them.