Climate Degree Apprentice Review

Currently I am involved with the climate thermofluids department in the company. This involves analysing the climate system within the car and the heat distribution throughout the car. This could be done through CAE simulation in the early stages of the cars development and then via physical testing once prototypes get made. The suppliers of these components are often involved and provide support.

My communication skills have improved a lot due to my role being quite dependent on team work and collaboration. Also my technical engineering knowledge has improved due to both the learning at university but also the hands on aspect of my job role. These skills are continuing to develop the further through the apprenticeship I get.

The educational side of the programme has been poorly organised in the past, especially in the first couple of years when you are attending Warwickshire college. However since being at university this has improved. The university lecturers are happy to give additional support outside of lectures to ensure you has the best understanding possible.

The programme is very well structured. Approximately one week in every six we attend university for a week where we get taught a range of modules and get given seminars where we can put that learning into practice and get any additional support from lecturers. Then when in work we get support from managers and mentor to teach us about the job role.

How much support you receive tends to be department dependent. Currently I am receiving time to do University work within my role which is helpful as it is quite a heavy workload. If I have any personal or work issues I can talk to either my manager or mentor to get this resolved. We also get assigned a Work Based Learning Manager who are happy to help if there are any issues.

Currently I attend university for approximately one week in every six. During this time we have lectures in the specific module you have chosen to study and have access to the lecturers for help with work. When we are based at work lecturers are contactable via email and generally they are very fast to respond to questions in a helpful manner.

There are lots of links between what we learn during our time at Warwick uni and our job roles at work. Subjects such as thermofluids and dynamics are directly relatable to most of the system work I do and therefore helps me to have a better understanding of the issues that arise and the possible solutions. I often can use case studies from work in assignments and exams etc.

Within Warwick university there are a lot of clubs you can join, as you are classed as a student of Warwick you get access to all the things a full time students do. This makes it similar to the experience of someone attending university full time. Within work it varies between departments, some departments have regular social activities which helps get to know your colleagues a bit better.

Yes

Jaguar Land Rover is a great place to work. It is great opportunity to gain a degree whilst getting paid as this avoids the debt most student have to take on and the salary you get paid is very competitive. Generally it is also nice having a lot of apprentices in the same year.

On the website there are specific business behaviours which Jaguar Land Rover require from their employees. These are great to know during the assessment center as you can think of past examples where you have displayed these behaviours to use in your interview but also be conscious of displaying these behaviours throughout the activities during the day.