Engineering apprentice Review

by Nestle

Best Apprenticeship Employer

Rating

4.1/10

1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:

I am an apprentice engineer. I assist day engineers with planned maintenance. This could involve overhauling equipment, servicing new equipment, inspections of machinery and filling out standards for others to work from.

5/10

2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

I have certainly developed new skills. I have learnt how to use machinery like lathes, band saws, milling machines etc. I came from the railway so had basic knowledge on how to fault find so I have developed on that.

5/10

3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

50/50. I feel like my site just uses me as a spare pair of hands rather than wanting to me to learn or develop. The jobs can be challenging which is good as it gets me hands on but I am not hands on enough.

5/10

4. How well organised/structured is your programme?

Not at all. We have no structure here at site as nobody really oversees us. We have no support from the college and very little communication from them should be need advice or help. It feels to me as if they make it up as they go along.

2/10

5. How much support do you receive from your employer?

Not enough. Personally my manager has changed three times so they do not know what is going on. The employer does not help us develop how we want/need to, even though we do say what kind of jobs/tasks we need to focus on in order to progress.

3/10

6. How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?

None at all. Never hear a peep from them. I have sent numerous emails to tutors from my training provider and to this day have not heard back from them. I have asked other questions as well regarding return dates and nobody seems to know what is going on.

1/10

7. How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?

They taught me how to use milling machines, lathes and other types of machinery which is transferable to my workplace for when new parts need making or when other components may need modifying.

7/10

8. Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)

They encourage taking part in volunteering events but other than that there is not a lot. My workplace has only just very recently started a 5 aside football team but only just.

5/10

9a. Would you recommend Nestle to a friend?

9b. Why?

I wanted to write yes and no for 9a. Yes because it is a big company and can open lots of different doors for the future. It is a very hands on job when you are doing something but I would say no because of poor organisation and how little they care about me personally at my site.

10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Nestle?

Keep your options wide open, there could be better opportunities elsewhere for you to focus on. Be proactive, be open to new ideas and lots of changes. Form good bonds and relationships with your colleagues as it really does make the job a lot easier.