Maintenance Engineer Review

We are tasked with checking over Data Modules and the creation of Documentation. Not really maintenance.

The programme is very insufficiently structured. The issue is it feels like we are a 'guinea-pig' cohort (where no team knows how to handle apprentices so things are being made up on the spot, this means that new structures are being tested which often do not work (when I have been there)). This does not all come from BAE Systems however, it comes their poor communications and planning alongside the college. Some modules that we are taught in college contain useful information that I can take away and use within my role, but this is very rare. However, due to the nature of the college and BAE deciding on modules they completely off-topic in comparison to the course I am supposed to be doing, which is then completely useless when it comes to helping me in my roles, actually becoming a nuisance that I have to complete the module at the same time. For example, in college I am learning about bearings and types of oils that are used in conveyors, however this has no links to the office work that I am doing.
Another issue that I have is that we were misled by the people in the company and the job advert, both mentioned that we are going to be doing hands on work on the boats. This is partly true for the first year in college as almost all of the work is hands on, but in the 2nd year this completely drops off and all work is office related. There is little to no mention of the job being office work in the job description and to be honest I would not have applied for the role knowing this. The office work is also very admin like, checking that everything is correct, and that people have the right accesses etc. This actually causes quite an issue when it comes to trying to hit the criteria that they want you to hit for the end of the apprenticeship, as the criteria is based on hands on work like let's say, lifting equipment safely, you cannot hit this in the office. As college work is hands on in the first year, some of the units carry over for the whole apprenticeship which is difficult to hit or near impossible to do in the office without waffling and making a weak link. This all happens as the job is linked and described as hands on, but when you get to what the actual role does, it has no link to what you are learning in college, or the criteria that you are trying to hit.

Support wise, they try their hardest to support all apprentices and graduates, however due to their lack of size in their team, the growing intake of early careers and how busy the people in the team are, this is often overlooked and can lead to support being missed and even end up with no work being given to you unless you constantly nag someone, however even then this doesn't always work. I will say thought that almost everyone that works there is very nice and will always be up to chat with you and help you if they aren’t busy, the higher up you go however the less I would say this. There is also an issue with budgeting where, for example, I find an issue it won't be fixed as it costs the business money to amend, but this causes more problems later on (Within my role).

Support is offered by the college during lectures, but the feedback that we are given can be confusing which leads to overall confusion when needing to complete assignments.

There is little to no links between qualification and office work.

Yes

Although my experience is negative, if you know you are doing an office job and are happy with this, then I think this will be a good job. The benefits are extremely good and do massively help improve positivity when working.