Footwear Production Apprentice Review

As an apprentice you set out to learn different production operations ahead of graduating in whichever part of the factory you will be working in after the apprenticeship. You assist primarily on production on lower grade jobs while attending college once every other week. Further into the apprenticeship, you begin to train on other jobs so as to complete your final project with minimal help.

The training provider (Northampton College) is pretty unreliable and the course seems to be underfunded and understaffed. Training isn't as well structured as you would expect in a company as large as Dr. Martens but when you do get someone willing to train you, the quality of teaching is good.

Private healthcare is a benefit of the job which not many employers offer. The company seems to be advocating for greater wellbeing in the workplace with the use of mental health first aiders, however the factory is definitely still very much behind in comparison with the rest of the company.

You don't receive much support at all. No one at the college even knows who you are. You're lucky if you ever get a response to your emails. The turnover of staff also affects the training of apprentices as they are left without a teacher or given a substitute who doesn't know the course.

The qualification is somewhat useful as it helps you to identify and understand issues in production. It's helpful to be able to view the production process as a whole in order to avoid problems further down the line. In general, many people do the job without the qualification without issues.

No

Opportunities for career progression are few and far between and it isn't really encouraged. The general working environment isn't particularly positive. As with most factories, hours are long and holiday is set 3-4 times a year leaving little freedom to choose time off outside of those set times.