Controls Engineer Apprentice Review

Monday is a dedicated day for paperwork, allowing time for assignments, logbooks and degree catch up. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday are workshop days which are practicing and learning skills in 6 week rotations around the workshop. Thursday is dedicated to my foundation degree which is learning engineering units from tutors.

I have learned how to programme PLC's effectively to perform tasks to a specification, I have developed my electrical and electronics skills, I have practiced hand fitting and machining skills with safe and effective procedures. I have learned how to MMA weld effectively to a standard which can be used in industry.

At the start of the apprenticeship I could tell there was a separation between my training provider and the company I am employed by, There was a lack of communication between them. This caused stress and uncertainty. The training provider wouldn't listen to suggestions. BMW group were very organized unlike the training provider. The apprenticeship has improved now we know what is going on and the training provider is listening to our suggestions. I enjoy it a lot now.

The structure from my employer is almost perfect whereas the training provider was very unorganised and non communicative. There were expectations which were not clear in the hiring process. It was made out to be my own fault when the training provider found out I had not got an A-Level in Maths.

My employer is very supportive and constantly reassures that there is help for anything we need. They listen to suggestions and may sometimes give us responsibility on implementing the suggestions. There is a lot of mental health support pushed to us. There are regular meetings allowing dialogue between the employer and employees.

There is a lot of support from our training provider compared to our employer. The tutors are brilliant and are more than happy to help, however the training provider team seems almost completely uninterested in supporting us. We have been complaining about a certain tutor and his incapability to teach however this is always swept under the rug and nothing has been done about it.

The tutors help to integrate our roles in the workplace into the units we are being taught with real world examples or tailoring questions to a workplace style question. This helps us learn how we will use the skills we are learning and get a picture of what we will be doing in the workplace.

There is a football team which is open to all apprentices which is done after work on a Tuesday. There is a charity team which host fundraising events for the apprentices to donate to a charity. There have been events such as a charity football game or a charity quiz.

Yes

Decent pay and support from the employer with a direct way into the industry.

In your application you should include and show characteristics that follow the BMW group qualities. Show how your experiences can link to the qualities. Be a team player with the ability to lead a team as well. Responsibility, Appreciation, Transparency, Trust and Openness are the 5 BMW group qualities you should show.