Manufacturing Apprenticeship Review

My role within Siemens on a day to day basis covered a wide array of roles. Firstly it was supporting the manufacturing of products that were made, which then followed by going more into the operations management side of the business by working on sales and the supply chain admin for the business. These roles both included shadowing people in there roles while also under taking challenges and roles of my own to support there function.

Yes, I have both learnt new skills and developed existing ones, within college i both learnt engineering skills like using a milling machine and lathe and in another college course i also developed my business knowledge, where as in the work place i developed my team working skills, time management skills and as a result was able to better function as a well rounded employee who can now take on a wide array of roles.

To what extent do I enjoy the programme is not a easy answer due to the differnt areas of the course. At wiltshire college with its poor management and organisation was difficult to enjoy as it was a struggle to get through. However, once in the work place i have enjoyed myself through the people that for the most part are always kind and polite and make you feel part of a team, which helps with personal moral.

The programme is well organised and structured to an extent. The assessors and people running the apprenticeship have a well worked timeline for the apprentices starting with there time in college, which then ends with the explanation of the NVQ and continuous meetings regarding our progress. However onces on the shop floor in our actual roles, the managers seem to have little plan and little communication as to what is expected from us in the work place.

With the issues I have had I have received a fair amount of support, my employer has listened to my issues and tried to help me with with the issues I have had surrounding college and the workplace, any issues I have had in the work place has been dealt with promtly which includes relocating my role to another area of the business, due to manufacturing not keeping me on after the apprentiship had finished.

The support I have received from my training provider is massively varied. During the first year one section was taught extremely well and we were massively supported, however another section we weren't listened to when saying we needed to do more units in the first year, this made the training provider struggle to teach the latter half of the course which stopped us progressing pass the bare minimum of a pass. My optional qualifiaction has be supported throughout

I did not feel as though the qualification that I was getting helped me perform better in my role at work. While the qualification are good at getting me a base knowledge of engineering the main work which I have done in my role is a lot more project management and not engineering. This were to have changed when i took on the businesses studies course at bath college where it allowed me to understand all aspects of the business.

Yes there are extra-curricular activities for us to get involved with, such as coffee roulette, however I do not feel as though these are massively advertised to us as I only know of coffee roulette and that was only told to us once or twice, I do not know of anymore. Following this, for Christmas there is a christmas do which is complemented by a summer social which allows you to get to know your co workers

Yes

I would recommend Siemens to a friend interested in engineering as there are lots of different career paths to go on within engineering depending on the career that they enjoy and what they are passionate about, and as a result there can be lots of different career paths for them to follow. following this there are also a lot of employee perks to take advantage of as well as a support system within SIemens for any issues that may arise

The tips and advice that I would give to others applying for Siemens would be think about what you wish to do, ask lots of questions when applying for it and don't be afraid to do something out of your norm, as you might find out you enjoy something different. I would also let them know that they will be able to push themselves into areas of the business they enjoy, even if it isnt there specific role.