Engineering Degree Apprentice Review

Apprentices work rotations around the different departments at GE Aviation. Getting to experience real engineering projects at various stages of the product lifecycle from initial concept right through to product sustainment. As well as the degree side of the apprenticeships there are plenty of other opportunities for developing soft skills from school mentoring to careers fairs and science festivals

The degree side of the Apprenticeship is full of new skills - from modules in basic electrical hardware and software understanding to modules in advances engineering mathematics, personal development and systems engineering. At work you are given the opportunity to use those skills with engineering teams treating apprentices as engineers and working on live projects

Overall the program is enjoyable, as with most schemes there maybe some degree modules or job rotations that aren't best suited for all individuals. There is a good support bubble at GE with lots of current and graduate apprentices for mentoring and support if needed, and a wide range of engineering projects to find what role the apprentice enjoys most.

The program is fairly well established and GE has a long history of apprentices. Management are open to changing the status quo and finding the best roles the suit the apprentices on scheme, rather than just forcing all to do the same rotations. Gloscol/UWE are also well experienced at apprenticeships and listen to feedback provided by Apprentices

Support from GE is good. On project apprentices are treated as part of the team, the apprenticeship manager is able to tailor the scheme to the needs of the individual, this means that concerns can be dealt with quickly and robustly. There is also a large apprentice alumni on most of the schemes for support

At Gloucester College and UWE there are apprentice coordinators who take feedback from apprentices and companies and pass it back to the educators to improve the standards of the degree. There are some modules that are in need of modernizing however the lecturers on the whole are good at contextualizing the subject.

The qualifications gained over the course of the apprenticeship are a leading factor in my job performance. The technical knowledge learned through the degree is vital for an engineering role. The soft skills learned as part of the degree and through other opportunities also help apprentices work within the team environment and develop their own engineering style.

The apprenticeship is approved by the IET and apprentices work towards the EngTech and IEng with the institute, this provides opportunity for networking and other work events. As a team of apprentices there is good comradery and often social events are organized informally. other than the soft skills opportunities there is not many formally organized extracurricular.

Yes

Apprentices across GE Aviation are provided good opportunities to accelerate their career. Apprentices are mostly treated as equal on projects meaning there is little discrimination or belittling of apprentices. Support is good if needed and working at a large company means there is lots of options to find what works best for each individual

Think about how you work in a team and what you bring to the engineering environment. No-one is ever the finished project so don't pretend to be, the apprenticeship is all about learning the skills and also learning how to use them. Use all the opportunities that are provided and make the most of each experience