DMBI Engineer Review

At college on a block of 4 days a week and at plant on the Wednesday. At college we learn usually within 2-4 weeks of 1 subject. Things like, milling, turning, welding, electrical to get us up to a standard in which we feel we can achieve testing and competence.

Prior to my previous qualifications, a lot of the things i'm doing at college overlap with what I've done before so for the most part no however not all of them are the same. Subjects like Lean and Welding i haven't done before and was fun and interesting.

Its a good programme and i would recommend it to anyone looking to get into engineering. It is good as during the apprenticeship it carves many paths in different subjects leading you to pick and choose with various future opportunities now that you have the right skill set. Glad i picked this apprenticeship because it offers things no other one does.

The organisation within subjects is okay, for instance you get a unit number and you have to complete that. But every tutor fulfils the qualification differently so it knocks us off course until we figure how they want it done. Things get jumbled up such as locations as some of the information on the time table isn't correct. Overall it is pretty well structured but at times you're left completely lost.

As a first year apprentice we are managed by the college. So the college has to sort things out for us. With me being at plant every Wednesday i need a little bit more support than others however i don't receive any. Things like telling somebody what you want to achieve with this apprenticeship and giving you things to strive to, to achieve this. This is support otherwise you're just working without a development plan.

The support we get from a training provider varies as the support is given from each teacher of the subject. What i think would be very beneficial is to have people come from a industrial background. This is said as many of the tutors are stuck in their ways with teaching, and sometimes this will hold you back when asking questions they wont know some of the answers as they are just doing what they've been told. This sometimes causes conflict as multiple times I've asked questions to tutors in which they have stumbled and then kind of retaliated, asking me something way out of my depth trying to "put me back if my place". However this isn't for all, some teachers have been very supportive, its just a shame that the odd few are all like that.

Right now i am working towards the level 2 in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering, and this is going to allow me better opportunities in the future as apprenticeships and that qualification is looked up upon the company and can allow personal development a bit easier. The teachers can be supportive and help you through rough patches you're having with your work and teach you better ways of doing things which you wouldn't of done if they didn't tell you.

I haven't heard of any so far, but this could be linked with just been stationed at college for the moment. So i cant really comment on this but there's this in company social media platform which allows people to post and sometimes opportunities come up on there such as football events and social events etc.

Yes

As its a great foundation and kick starter for your future in the automotive industry. You can learn these intricate, skills and don't have to pay and gain valuable qualifications. Let you expand your opportunities and have a supportive group of people behind you. Make life long friends and have a purpose.

Tips i would give to others applying is having work experience is a big thing as qualifications are good and all but if you cant apply them into real life scenarios they are are pretty much useless. This is why work experience is a must have and be open minded and have a good willingness to learn.