Mechanical Engineering Apprenitce Review

The apprentice role on site is based around the maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft engines. Each apprentice will spend a specified length of time working with each team and moving around the factory to gain valuable experience in each of the tasks involved with working on the aircraft engines.

During the apprenticeship apprentices are taught valuable skills both in college and on site within the factory. The college course includes topics such as health and safety which is used throughout every workplace, as well as hands on skills within the work shop such as the how to use and maintain lathes. Within the factory hand skills are further developed, communication and following instructions are improved.

I like that the apprenticeship allows the opportunity to meet a lot of different people which ultimately means each working week is different. I enjoy the variety of working tasks carried out and that there is a lot to learn. I also enjoy being able to get involved with extra curricular activities such as volunteering within the local community.

The apprenticeship scheme within GE Aviation is strucutured in a way that the apprentices rotate around the factory and visit each section. Each engine type is split up so that you can gain experience from stripping the engine, reparing components and then re-building modules. The only way I would like to see this improved is to have a preset out plan for when the apprenticeship starts as this would help with the completion of the NVQ tasks.

The training team on site is primarily the apprentices' point of contact when there are any issues. The team are very supportive and are generally quick to resolve any issues or answer any questions that we may have. The teams we work with on a day to day basis are very supportive of the apprenticeship scheme and will offer assistance where possible.

We complete the majority of our theory based training within the college which allows us the ability to seek assistance when needed. The college team are incontact with the GE team and can pass any queries on where required to. When completing our NVQ on site we have a member of the college staff that visits site and is able to support us through that qualification. The most prominent support we have when completing our NVQ is from the aircraft engineers on site who have trained to be NVQ assessors. These members of the team are based on the shop floor so are much more 'reachable' when we have a question!

I feel that the work we complete out in college is key to understanding the tasks we carry out on site. The theory work allows you to have a basic knowledge that you can then further when carrying out the practical tasks. The work shop aspect of our qualification could be improved to include similar tasks that we carry out on site which would allow us to use the hand tools that we use on a day to day basis within the factory.

Apprentices are able to get involved with a number of activities both on site and off site. Apprentices are encouraged to become STEM ambassadors and volunteer within schools to teach younger children about apprenticeships and STEM roles. There is also the chance to complete the Duke of Edinburgh Gold award.

Yes

The employees within General Electric are proud to work for a multinational and multi cultural company that produces great products. General Electric offers good training for its apprentices and a number of different apprenticeships as well as internships which are great opportunities for young people to start their career off with.

I would reccomend that anyone applying for a role within the company takes the time to research and find out as much as they can about GE. If possible, work experience within the factory gives a great insight to the tasks carried out as well as additional knowledge about processes used internally that can not be found online.