Engineering Degree Apprentice Review

My role is within Body Engineering. This involves working on a specific component on a certain vehicle program. Daily tasks include maturation of CAD through iterative design loops, scheduling engineering activities and working with other departments such as purchasing and manufacturing to ensure the part can be sourced and fitted to the vehicle.

The apprenticeship has allowed me to develop both technical and soft skills. Technical skills include the use of CAD and CAE, understanding process and engineering standards as well as finding and applying requirements. Soft skills include the opportunities to network, present to leadership and general communication. I think an apprenticeship allows you to better develop these skills as you work alongside industry leaders in your job role.

I really enjoy the program. I have a strong network of friends who I met on the program who are both on early careers and within the business. The projects I work on are extremely exciting and it is a privilege to represent these two iconic british brands and be part of their future.

The organisation of the program is improving. I would like better and more timely communication of important notices. The experience between work and university can also seem disjointed. The university organisation can be poor at times (late turn around of marks, module dates could be released earlier etc.). In general, organisation is better than it was at the start of the program but could still improve.

I receive a lot of support from my line manager and mentor. They help me a lot with giving me lots of time for university work, NVQ's and other apprenticeship paperwork. They also help me with personal development and any queries I have in the job role. I also get a lot of support from my work based learning manager who helps me with all of my apprenticeship paperwork that needs completing.

It is very dependent on the module tutor. In the most part, the module tutors are very supportive. They are happy to look over drafts for assignments and are contactable over microsoft teams for queries. However, it is very dependent on the person. I have regular meetings with my personal tutor/project supervisor who has been very helpful when writing my dissertation.

It is very dependent on the module. There are some modules which are useful as they give a bit more background into the process but I find that most times, academia does not match up with the world of work in the processes and software used. This is to be expected though and with an apprenticeship you see both sides.

Yes, the early careers hub host regular social activities such as park runs, badminton, go karting and ski trips. I also have access to the university societies such as the yoga society which I attend every week. There is definitely a benefit of working for a large company with a big early careers cohort.

Yes

It is a great company to work for. You work on exciting projects for a company with great brands. There is an enormous sense of pride when you see something you have worked on drive past you or if you go abroad and see the cars, you realise the scale of the company you work for.

Look at the behaviours and cultures that we are expected to adhere to. It is essential that you are able to embody the creators code and fit in with the company culture to make sure that you are a good fir for JLR and JLR is a good fit for you.