Engineering Technician Review

As a year one Eng-Tec, I spend Mondays and Thursdays doing university work and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the workshop learning practical skills including: electronics, hand fitting, milling, turning and welding. In the workshop, rotations tend to last around 4 weeks and then we move onto the next skill.

I have learned lots of new skills both practically in the workshop and also more theoretical skills at university. In the workshop, I learned skills including electronics, hand fitting, milling, turning, and welding. In each rotation, we do a variety of projects creating test parts to test our practical skills. Each rotation has been good at testing my current skills and also allowing me to expand my knowledge.

I have enjoyed the programme so far. It has been fun and informative and I have learned lots of new skills that will help me in my placements. I have also had a good start at university and have found all assignments so far very interesting. I have also developed my skills in CAD which will further help me in my placement.

Overall, the programme is well organised and works very well and efficiently. The first year is generally well organised with year one apprentices rotating round different practical experiences in the workshop which has been organised well. However, there is a massive lack of communication between our training provider B-Met and BMW. It would be nicer to start our placements sooner as currently we do not start them until Year 2.

The support from BMW is good. We have lots of opportunities to raise any concerns we have through in-dialogue meetings. We have these group meetings between just Year 1s and also between all apprentices. It is good as it allows us to bring up any concerns or questions we have about the programme.

The support from our training provider B-Met has been good. We have one to one progress meetings with a B-met manger every few weeks to discuss our progress. These meetings are good as they allow us to bring up any concerns that we have and allow us to bring up concerns about our university degree.

I think that the training provided by our training provider B-Met has been good. I have developed lots of practical skills in the workshop which will help me in my placements. I have also learnt lots of theoretical skills that will also help me in my placements. However, to improve I think some more industry relevant training would be useful with placements staring sooner then Year 2.

There are a few activities that are officially organised including a football and netball team which you can chose to participate in after work for a small fee. However, apprentices also tend to organise social events themselves after work which allows everyone to socialise outside of work, which is nice.

Yes

BMW group overall is a great company to work for. There is good salary progression, great pension, decent holiday allowance as well as lots of different benefits such as the car scheme. The car scheme is a great benefit that allows you to get a new BMW / Mini at a heavily reduced rate.

Definitely apply as overall it is a great opportunity where you gain very valuable industry experience while also gaining a degree fully funded by BMW. I would recommend finding the right role for you before applying that will suit you best as there are a variety of different job roles.