Apprentice Engineering Technician Review

To maintain and fix any problems with the plant equipment. A mentor would be assigned to me as an apprentice and I'd learn off them closely about the plant equipment covering a range of disciplines e.g Mechanical, Electrical and Instrument. Apprentice projects would also be assigned to myself by a mentor, so if we had some free time where our mentor wasn't taking us on a job, we could get on with our project work.

During my apprenticeship I learnt lots of new skills ranging from basic hand skills to communication skills and how to talk to people in a professional manner. As an apprentice you were included in all the team meetings so you got a good understanding of the area you were currently based in. Internal courses were important because they allowed us to carry out our job role and prepared us for the technician role once we applied for a job. I also gained a wide range of qualifications during my time as an apprentice. NVQ Level 2, NVQ Level 3, BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma, HNC and HND. Which stood me in good stead for the engineering problems we had at work.

I very much enjoyed my apprenticeship programme. Being based on site at AstraZeneca meant I could learn lots off the people around me. Everybody was very helpful in aiding my learning. If I was at a loose end with any work, somebody would be there to help me and aid me. The aspect of my apprenticeship programme I didn't enjoy was the management from the service provider. Internally, AstraZeneca was great and the management were there at all times to support. Cogent Skills weren't the best communicators and we had to conduct a review with them every couple of months, as they weren't based on site I felt like they didn't really understand the work I was completing and the people conducting my reviews weren't engineering based. As for AstraZeneca's side, it was great.

The placement rotations done internally at AstraZeneca were well balanced and thought out. I always knew how long I had left in one placement and where I was going to next. I was inducted at AstraZeneca straight away, before I even started my role there. Which was great. There was a massive amount of training that went into my apprenticeship programme from mentors. Which was really good. I feel like this training is only there if you show willing and keenness, which is fair enough. But if you want it, you can get it. I've briefly talked about support meetings from the external training provider in the question above. Task delegation was good, each area only had one apprentice in it at one time. Meaning it wasn't over crowded and your mentor could focus on teaching you and feeding you some tasks to do every now and again e.g project work.

AstraZeneca showed a lot of support during the apprenticeship. My manager changed frequently as I moved through the areas but all were well balanced and gave me support where needed. If I wanted a chat with them, this was no problem. Attitudes towards me were great through my apprenticeship. All my mentors were friendly and willing to help me. I was frustrated with Cogent Skills as mentioned above, they didn't really know what was going on with our apprenticeship programmes. We only saw them every couple of months, when they came onto site to conduct our review. Even though Cogent Skills/Total People were my employers, I felt like AstraZeneca were more so.

My training provider always helped if we had any problems with our colleges. They were in contact with the colleges so they could always speak to them internally, which was good. I enjoyed my qualifications, especially the NVQ's which were more hand skill based.

My qualifications allowed me to learn the core knowledge to allow me to do my job as an Engineering Technician at work. A lot of the principals we learnt at college can be crossed over into work, so it was helpful. Work always allowed us to carry out our college work there which was good. If we had some free time we could go on the computer and complete some college stuff. I feel like I know more at work after completing the apprenticeship qualifications.

We had the opportunity to travel to schools and career fairs to complete talks on the apprenticeship programme. Sometimes schools would come to us, for an apprenticeship day to learn about what goes on at AstraZeneca. Which was useful for them. There is 5 a side football available if you want to play, apprentice of the year award, Christmas doos, extra curricular trips, volunteering days. Some apprentices have attended professional networking events.

Yes

It's a great company to work for, well paid and everybody who I've dealt with throughout my apprenticeship was friendly. They offer industry standard training and qualifications. The people who work there are fully trained and up to standard with the technical side of things, which helps younger people learn.

Research the company, what kind of drugs they produce/brand and manufacture. The application process for the apprentices is a full day of activities, interviews and tours and the candidates are assessed by current apprentices as well as apprenticeship managers. The opportunities are endless when working for a blue chip company. Especially when they're paying to train you.