Engineering apprentice Review

My role at Rolls-Royce Motor cars on a day to day basis is building cars on the assembly line on a few stations that I have been trained on. On a day to day basis I have also been required to complete tasks that may include completing system checks and completing other tasks set by managers.

I have learnt some new skills through my tuition at college such as welding, turning (lathe), machining as well as electronic assembly and testing. While at work I gained experience in mechanical assembly which has built on some of my previous knowledge of working with fixing and assembling motor vehicles.

I do enjoy some of things I am tasked with by Rolls-Royce. Some of my day to day work I find interesting and am more than happy to complete but unfortunately this is not always the case. Sometimes I find myself with not enough to do and a lot of unfulfilled promises of job roles and training.

Unfortunately starting my apprenticeship at Rolls-Royce it was obvious from the get go that there was a lack of planning and preperation for the course. Athough we had been outlined our course many things we were promised have not been delivered. The apprenticeship as a whole has been all over the place with no reviews being done over the first year of the course.

I feel as if there is a large lack of support from the employer. I find myself messaging managers and other people within the company and am unlikely to get a response, The employer has been unable to support us in finding job roles for when we finish and have thrown us in at the deepend without any direction.

The training provider Chichester college has provided a basic level of support for us to work towards our qualififcation. Some of the classes we ahve our insightful while others are ufnortunatel taught by disinterested and biased teachers. On a whole we are left to our own devices around 75% of the time.

Our qualification at college has some relevant criteria to what we do at work unfortunately the majority does not directly help me with my work with the BMW group. Some of the general skills such as working with my hands, care taking and procedures for health and safety are useful but the technical skills are not transferable.

Nothing gets organised by the company although some members of staff do like to play golf , go to the driving range and ride bikes etc. Some projects are undertaken by staff such as building go karts with primary schools. There are multiple activities and networking oppurtunities that you can get involved with but it is hard to get places on these activities.

Yes

On a whole the wage is relatively competitive for the level of apprenticeship I am doing. Some of the perks are highly attractive to certain people such as being able to lease a brand new car at a discount rate. The company is large so in theory there is room to move around and progress. There are a few let downs with the disorganisation but if you can hack it and get it done it will hopefully be worth it. Pension scheme is excellent !

It is a large and profitable company and therefore you shouldnt have to worry about keeping your job as long as your perform in theory there is progression but sometimes it seems like youre being held back so that you can be kept in a role that the company deems useful rather than reaching your full potential. Take everything you are promised with a pinch of salt and dont expect sunshine and rainbows as no apprenticeship will be. On a whole getting your foot in the door of an apprenticeship scheme in a company like BMW should be a good start to a career, you may need some grit to get it over and done with but it will be very worthwhile experience when completed allowing you continue on in your career.