Apprentice Maintenance Technician Review

As a 3rd year apprentice maintenance technician my role involves shadowing maintenance technicians on placement across all 3 technologies - paint, body in white, and assembly. This is an opportunity to learn what the role of a maintenance technician involves from skilled people on a day-to-day basis. There are also additional jobs to do such as rebuilds, refurbishments, and testing of equipment. I attend college 1 day per week on site.

I have had exposure to various new practical skills such as welding, milling, turning, and hand fitting. I have learnt the basics of PLC programming and gained electrical installation and electronics skills. During the first 2 years I did a level 3 BTEC and am now undertaking a level 4 HNC qualification which is a great opportunity. Additionally I have attended courses for forklift truck driving, first aid, and working at heights.

I do not enjoy the programme as much as I could. It is a great opportunity to work for a company of the size of BMW and some of the placements within the technologies working with maintenance are very enjoyable, but there are also some additional placements which seem to be an afterthought and are not enjoyable or relevant. The programme hasn't met my expectations in terms of quality of education expected of BMW (at times very poor), and structure for my year could have been a lot better. I am looking forward to going on to my final placement and feel I will find this much more fulfilling and enjoyable.

Generally it hasn't been as well organised and structured as it could. The first year runs well based in the training school. The second and third years rotating between paint/BIW/assembly with specific tasks to achieve out on the plant have been punctuated with poorly organised placements such as innovation which had no structure or organisation. These placements exist possibly due to the number of apprentices employed by the company, they knew we were coming, but failed to make a plan to accommodate us until the last minute. The 3rd year rotating between placements again having already done so in the 2nd year seems like a waste of time, and would be better spent on final placement or at least in home technology in order to become a more proficient maintenance tech when coming out of my time. This is something that has seemingly been addressed for future years, and i believe the structure and organisation will continue improving, especially with improved communication, it's just unfortunately a little late for my year.

During my time on the apprenticeship my training manager has changed 3 times. I have found my more recent training managers to be much more supportive and easy to communicate with, and I believe that they want the best for us as apprentices and will make changes to improve the programme. These changes come about through regular in dialogue meetings where apprentices are able to ask questions, voice any concerns etc. Support out on placement is generally good, I have never had any issues with any mentors or placement managers who all have a positive attitude towards showing you the role and answering questions.

Not a lot. BMet provided an awful tutor for our HNC which started nearly 2 months late and then did not believe us when multiple members of the group raised concerns about the poor quality of education we were receiving. It was assumed by the college that as a group it was our problem and we were struggling to adapt to higher education where in fact we had a tutor who made no effort to prepare to teach us, showed us incorrect methods, and consistently belittled us. Eventually, after 4+ months, the tutor left and things have improved since. The tutor we had in the first year for BTEC was brilliant, and his replacement in the 2nd year was also very supportive.

I feel that I know more about my job role and the industry I am working in through completing my BTEC qualification, workshop qualification, and working on my HNC. Not all of the work is completely relevant but that would be hard to achieve and generally the qualifications compliment the role well. The first year of HNC is general but the second year units have been chosen specifically by BMW to be relevant to the job role which is a positive aspect to having it run on site.

There are some things you can do such as 3 peaks challenges and other events for charity but I am not too familiar with them and obviously these have been stopped for the past year due to covid. There are also opportunities to do school visits when the world is open and working as normal.

Yes

As an employer, yes I would recommend BMW group to a friend because I believe they are a good employer. Money and pension are good and there are good benefits such as access to the company car scheme. I believe the apprenticeship experience will improve in the coming years with new leadership.

Try to get in for work experience before applying to the apprenticeship to see how the plant operates and get an idea of what the job is all about if possible. This will be invaluable to talk about during interview. Taking some time to learn about the brand of BMW, and what the role of a maintenance technician involves will prepare you well also.