Mechatronics Apprentice Review

Gatwick Airport run a four year apprenticeship program where us apprentices go around the six engineering departments: Specialist Systems Shuttles LSCA (Life Safety Controls Automation) Baggage Airfield Ground Lighting HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air-Conditioning) and which is optional MT (Motor-Transport) We go around each department learning all the engineering systems by using hands-on experience a typical day is turning up at work and spending the day with a Technician going around the airport doing general maintenance or fixing faults every day is different which makes it very fun as you can't predict what your day will involve. Your First year you spend full time at college learning basic skills before starting full time at the airport to which you then increase your knowledge at work whilst also doing 1 day at college to further your skills.

I have learned so much since starting work full time at Gatwick Airport. At this moment I am in my second year and have completed three different departments, which all come with both electrical and mechanical maintenance and also at times faults, it is always helpful to work 1 to 1 with a Technician everyday as it really helps to understand the problems at hand and also what maintenance needs to be done to mend the problem. My engineering skills have progressed a lot whilst working around the airport as I now understand more technical terms and have widen my practical skills in real world situations. It is also good to know that I am able to progress with my qualifications, first starting out on a btec level 2/3 to eventually moving onto a HNC in the future we have more flexibility to what we want for our future.

If I could give the programme over 10 stars I would! Gatwick Environment is amazing everyone is so lovely and willing to help you, almost all the Technicians understand your point of view as they were also an apprentice themselves, so it great to see how willing to teach you everyday and also how they will work with you if you don't understand the problem fully. The apprentices also when they start a mentor and "buddy", mentors are typically a Technician in the company and a "buddy" is an apprentice who is apart of they same program they are both really good to rely on if you ever need help during the apprenticeship. Everyday at work is always really enjoyable as you can have a good laugh with the Technicians and also see other apprentices who are either in the same department or in the same building which helps you feel more integrated to work.

The apprenticeship is really good at keeping track of your training and also communications we all have an online system that we use and our own Gatwick Airport laptop which is given to us free at the start of the apprenticeship this is really good for our emails and also anything such as college work or using online application this will include online training where we can see what we need to complete, we also have many ways to communicate with others such as emails which are always quick way to talk to others. Plus we always have meeting with our manger to discuss any changes or updates about the company this really useful for every day life at Gatwick Airport

The apprenticeship is really good at providing support to the apprentices this is especially really good as you get a lot of support from mangerment as everyone knows each other. Its also great to see that our manager was also an apprentice himself as again this means that he can see our point of view better, we also have 1-1 meetings every so often so we can discuss how we are doing and if have any problems we can pass them across. As stated before we also have a mentor program which is really helpful this means we can have a meeting and discuss anything that is also in our mind too and also ask for help. Again all the departments are great to talk too if you are having a problem with understanding a task the technicians are really good at breaking down the situation for your understanding they also help to collect information for you too such as manuals or send you on the correct path on for websites too this can really help with college work most importantly

Gatwick Airport is great for support for and example our manger is easy to approach or very quick when replying to emails this is very helpful at times especially since I will be moving onto my NVQ later in the year. The apprentices in the older years are also great to use as they would of also done similar work too so they have a great understanding of what work you have to go through and can be a really good help for college work this can be same for the technicians as stated before there knowledge is great for any help with college work as they can give you manuals or point you in the right direction if you are struggling with college work.

Our first year at Gatwick Airport is spent at East Surrey College full time, we learn hands on skills and also theory work to help us first understand engineering at the airport. This really helped me begin to understand how the systems at Gatwick Airport work plus get a good basic on my hands on skills. Now that I have moved on to my second year of the apprenticeship I have now furthered my understanding of engineering by quite a margin, everyday I have used my technical skills that I have learned from college at work, my way of speech has change to a more technical one and also my hands on skills have really improved too. knowing basics from college such as fault finding techniques and working with tools has really helped with my career at Gatwick Airport.

There are lots of activities that the apprentices do during school times we do a lot of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) events these can vary a lot to us going to schools to do fun actives to do with engineering or we also host presentations of what the apprenticeship is about to older school children who are moving on to their begin career into a working environment. We also go on a team building holiday each year to outward bound this is where all the apprentices go to different outdoor events to hike, watercraft and do lots of fun activities as a big group it is really fun. Just recently as well the second year apprentices have also taken up and opportunity to build a gravity soap box which we will be able to race in the future and also get school children to build one themselves.

Yes

Gatwick Airport comes with many benefits its truly a great opportunity to take not only are you learning whilst on the job and also earning money too what really great about the apprenticeship is the connections and life skills you get from working there because you move around all the departments you know a lot of people and you also learn to become an adult too and gain more social skills. A great bonus is that Gatwick Airport provides you with great qualifications which are very good for other outside sources too so your skills are also great for outside of the company too.

Be brave, show your skills, really project yourself and most importantly just be yourself. Gatwick Airport look for people who have great people skills and also who are really passionate for engineering they are really supportive for females too who are coming into engineering which is awesome but most importantly show that you are really passionate to be in engineering and that you will work very hard.