Apprentice Control Engineer Review

My daily job is to go around the factory in different 8 week placements in both electrical and mechanical taking a little bit from each place to hopefully be complete enough to be a flexible worker that can go anywhere in the plant and still do a good enough job.

The very first year consists of nearly 100% training such as lathe, milling machines, drills and more, although I had some experience with them it was nothing compared to what we were shown which was very in depth. after the first year we are much more focused on knowledge rather than skills

Day to day there are many new things to cover which is enjoyable, however if I am kept in a placement too long especially with Covid 19 it can get a bit repetitive but the final job role will be the same and much like any other job for that matter.

The organization I work for has had apprentices for years and are therefore quite experienced, but sometimes they do not allow for very good flexibility of placements until recently as there was a change in who managed our placements and we now have much more specific and useful placements

The support given to us is very comprehensive, not only do we get full employee perks such as company cars we have all our lessons on one day with the company working close with the universities and colleges to make sure we get an efficient learning experience

The training provider treats us very similarly to regular students but they have a lot of empathy towards our reduced time in college and therefore will often go the exra mile for us such as coming in during holidays and providing extra worksheets which have proven useful during covid.

Very often theoretical training does not link up quite well to practical roles, however, we were given manual training too which has come in useful quite a few times or at the very least has given me the confidence to do more hands on work when I am given a task

Along the year there are few projects and events that we take part in and even more we could take part in, since we are doing a heavy course we don't have the time to do as many events as we could be doing but the opportunities are there.

Yes

BMW is a big company with many options and if you work hard you can achieve many things and get a job you never thought you would get, being a big company you also get a taste for may different departments which gives you a basic understanding of what you may want to get into.

When applying you may not fully understand the job role, at the end of the day you may get a different job to the one you applied for as your skills and capabilities can take you far especially if you are young and motivated to be the best you can be.