Advanced Apprentice West Midlands Review

Day-to-day involves vehicle diagnostics and preparation for coastdown testing and certification. This can include collecting a vehicle from build and ensuring the vehicle has passed manufacturing standards, mileage accumulation for each individual market, working closely with the test lead to ensure the vehicle is configured to the correct specification for weights, aero, wheels and tyres etc.

Lots of new skills have been learnt such as use of JLR internal engineering tools, developed product knowledge massively for JLR products, learnt skills such as data acquisition from the vehicle networks and evaluating that data to ensure vehicle performance is correct from an efficiency standpoint, plus I have improved driving skills from company lead driving qualifications.

I enjoy the programme as it has allowed me to see all sides of the business, such as the engineering side and pushing boundaries, to the manufacturing side and seeing the assembly of vehicles. The college section of the programme has allowed me to also get hands on experience with some past legacy JLR products which are transferable skills throughout the comapny.

The organisation could definitely be improved, primarily looking at the communications side of the programme, for example, prior to joining the scheme, the information available seemed very intuitive and easy to understand, and there was plenty of information on getting started and what to expect. However throughout the course of the apprenticeship, it has dropped off and communications have slowed about where the course is heading, what happens at the end of the course, and how we can progress past the apprenticeship.

The support received has been great, from start to where I am at now in the programme. However I feel like the support has been coming from various channels, and not one consistent support network. For example, at the beginning of the course, support was very much college based, with not much contact from the company, then further in the programme, the support then was the responsibility of our team and managers, which have had little contact with the college regarding course expectancies and what needs to be done at work. Support from the team has been great, but from early careers, not so great.

The college was fantastic with supporting us throughout our studies, especially in the times we faced with lockdowns and Covid-19. The workload was able to be tailored to working remotely, and there was plenty of support for any questions we had, and contact was simple with tutors being open to emails, and online chats.

My qualification has given me a relatively solid grounding on automotive mechanical principles which I have been implementing within my role. Since my role is relatively hands-on with decision making, and teamwork, my learning provider really helped to lay the foundations in what communications should be like as an engineer. My only criticism of the training we received was that it felt a bit outdated compared to what the automotive industry is doing.

Yes, within JLR there are plenty of extra curricular activities such as the formula student, karting championships, climbing etc, which are all part of the early careers opportunities to meet other apprentices and graduates. There are also plenty of extra things to do within the team, such as drinks/meals out, team building activities etc.

Yes

Overall, I think the company promotes an incredibly comfortable workspace, where apprentices and graduates and new starters are made to feel very welcome and involved straight from the get go. The work which is carried out within JLR is always interesting and exciting to be working on prototype vehicles and pushing the boundaries.

The main top tips I would give are to learn the heritage, and understand what made the company deliver such iconic products today. Learn to be agile and show willingness to improve, and take opportunities, as JLR are always happy to push learning forward, as it is the best way to improve. Finally I would say be open minded, as having an open mind will open doors and allow you to make the most out of JLR.