Rating
- 1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
- 2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
- 3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
- 4. How well organised/structured is your programme?
- 5. How much support do you receive from your employer?
- 6. How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
- 7. How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
- 8. Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
- 9a. Would you recommend JLR to a friend?
- 9b. Why?
- 10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to JLR?
Setting up test rigs for the testing of prototype parts and vehicles. Varies from day to day. My role including fitting, fabrication, machining, testing and everything in between. With how the industry is continuously changing, you learn to adapt and change with these changes as well. One of the main advantages is that my job role has different tasks every day, therefore it does not become stale and boring.
I have learnt a fair bit whilst in my job role, however the academic side of things were more of a recap for myself. I would of learnt more if I had not already came from a similar background prior to starting the apprenticeship. Learning from the years of experience that my peers have has been one of the main sources.
The programme has it's ups and downs like many others as you'd expect. The college side of things became very tedious during the first year when I was at college full time, however once getting hands on and more involved during my placements and time in my job role, I began to enjoy it much more.
The structure to me personally has not been very good at all. The first year of my apprenticeship was spent at college full time. This ended up becoming a mess due to a lack of teachers and teaching support, as well as the programme aiming at one type of person. This lack of organisation had a come back on my apprentice year, and ended up making alot of us fall behind, which was out of our control.
My employer always wanted me to achieve, however I was not always given the time to do so. They definitely have an interest in what I have to say, but results are sometimes a different story. They are the first to jump on you if something isnt as it should be, but will let you go as you are if everything is. I suppose you get out of it what you put in, so this is definitely a point worth noting as its the approach that I took. Glad I did.
My employer always wanted me to achieve, however I was not always given the time to do so. This became particularly evident towards the end of my apprenticeship when I needed the time to perform tasks for my NVQ which had to be done within the workplace. I found myself feeling more like cheap labour, compared to an apprentice. The work based learning managers that we are assigned have done their best, however there is only so much they can do as they are not the ones that pull the strings.
The majority of my qualification has next to nothing to do with what my job role is. They could definately of adjusted the units that I learnt during my time at college, however due to the lack of communication between the work place and the college, I cant see this happening. There are things that I have taken away from my qualification which I may not of learnt otherwise.
I would say this is down to personal choice. Working with the same people day in day out, you grow a friendship. With this comes things such as days out together etc. There are company ran social events that you can get involved with, especially those that are offered through the apprenticeship such as share fair events.
Yes
The knowledge to be learnt from your time is very good. You always get out of it what you put into it, therefore the limits can be endless. The pay is very good, especially as an apprentice when compared to other similar companies for the same job roles. The company is a name everyone knows, so if it ever came to it, you know it looks good on your CV as it is recognized globally. Lots of other advantages to working here, including holiday, pensions etc.
I'd definately look at the job roles available, and if it is something that you are interested, go for it. Make sure that you make yourself stand out in the interview, but for the right reasons. The job roles based in the midlands are over a few of the different sites, so transport is a must, and be aware of how much youre willing to travel. Go for it, you wont regret it if you stick at it.
Details
Level 3 Apprenticeship
Engineering
Gaydon
May 2019