# Engineering apprenticeships - are they even worth it?



## RPC (May 11, 2014)

Bit of background info, i have worked for a company for 3 years now and have completed 2 years of an engineering apprenticeship. (4 years apprenticeship)

I work in maintenance and have done 1yr L2 diploma in engineering operations and 1yr L2 performing engineering operations (basically one side theory, 1 side practical) and will be doing L3 in maintenance engineering for further 2 years.. i also have fork lift license, cherry picker license and am doing electrical 17th edition soon.

Beginning to wonder if its really worth it though. All this amount of work effort and training for the amount of pay it is in the end. I really enjoy the job but i have friends who have left school with not much further training or have done courses much quicker than 4 years, and are earning more now than i will do in 2 years when i finish. (20k per annum basic) 

Just for example, when i did my fork truck license the instructor told me there was a local company paying £10p/h for drivers. Which is roughly what pay i will get when im qualified.

Is there anyone on here who has completed such apprenticeships who can tell me there is light at the end of the tunnel, as im sat here doing homework on a sunday afternoon and thinking is it really worth it lol


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## Monny Fan (Sep 27, 2014)

Stick with it you can earn a lot more with 17th and a cherry picker licence you jsut need your industrial elec certs and your done


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## Vossman (Aug 5, 2010)

Its bad really what this government have done promoting these apprenticeships, its little more than slave labour and keeps you off the unemployment figures. Considering a doctor can be trained in 5 years ..... hmmm
I have seen some 19 year olds on an apprenticeship at only £3.00 an hour, that really is disgraceful, at least give young people some credit for wanting to try and learn a trade.

Stick with it though - complete all you need to and then bugger off to Australia where you will be welcomed as a tradesmen.

Britain - last one out turn off the light.


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## RPC (May 11, 2014)

I dont know what industry standard is but looking at adverts on the job centre seem to average around 22-24k per annum with some way higher but doubt i would get the higher 1s due to experience.. maybe immigration could be on the cards lol.

I agree about money, when i first started college i was surprised some were earning like £120 a week, apparently thats government funded too, some right tight gits around.

We use a company for servicing our moffetts and the engineer said they cant get apprentices and have been advertising for 2 yrs. No wonder why!


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## Aucky (Oct 3, 2008)

If money is your aim, the main avenues are degree qualified engineer, shift work, or off-shore / work abroad.


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## RPC (May 11, 2014)

Cheers guys. Im not wanting to earn mega bucks but when i eventually buy a house i want to be able to live comfortably, more important though - i dont want to be earning a similar amount to someone who hasnt put half as much effort in as i have/will have to


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## m4rkymark (Aug 17, 2014)

Stick with it, once your time served it will make a difference. Don't worry about pay rates too much - there will always be someone else out there earning more than you are no matter how much you earn.


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## taylor8 (Mar 26, 2010)

I done an apprenticeship now work on the rigs 2 weeks on 3 weeks at home over 80k!


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## Rundie (Oct 2, 2007)

Well worth it mate, I did an Engineering apprenticeship in the 80's and they are crying out for people like me (believe it or not)


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## RPC (May 11, 2014)

taylor8 said:


> I done an apprenticeship now work on the rigs 2 weeks on 3 weeks at home over 80k!


Thats crazy!

And i can believe it rundie, there looks to be a fair few jobs out there from looking online!


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## Mattwilko92 (Aug 4, 2008)

Done an Electrical Engineering apprenticeship and also do Mechanical and working for the right company easy to be doing over 40k a year plus!


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Vossman said:


> Its bad really what this government have done promoting these apprenticeships, its little more than slave labour and keeps you off the unemployment figures. Considering a doctor can be trained in 5 years ..... hmmm
> I have seen some 19 year olds on an apprenticeship at only £3.00 an hour, that really is disgraceful, at least give young people some credit for wanting to try and learn a trade.
> 
> Stick with it though - complete all you need to and then bugger off to Australia where you will be welcomed as a tradesmen.
> ...


Why is £3 an hour disgraceful? Remember the old YTS scheme when I left school at £75 per week. It got u experience in a job which is what most people moan they can't get. If you work hard and show your good at your job and keen to learn then there's a good chance you'll be paid more and get a job at the end of it. Also good for smaller employers that might find it difficult to take someone on a higher wage. I deal with lots of people on apprenticeships, min wage etc that moan and the only bit of advice I give them is work hard show you're a grafter and I guarantee the wage will rise as well as hours if they want them. I see so many people who moan, winge and turn extra hours down, are off sick more than they are in who then get hours cut/laid off and wonder why.

OP stick at it.


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## hartg9990 (6 mo ago)

Worth it


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## IvorB1H (6 mo ago)

National minimum wage for a 19y/o apprentice is currently £4.81 

worth sticking with it I too went through similar thoughts at around 18-19 y/o as my labouring friends who didn’t do very well at school were earning much much more than me at the same age.

however 21/22 years later I’m earning 3-4 times what they do as their wages hit a peak sooner but then had very little scope to continue rising. I’ve been quite fortunate but through hard work and effort I’ve become in that time a director of a decent sized company and am now employing 4 apprentices currently with 2 lads who just finished degrees last year on day release / apprenticeship schemes.

I work hard to let all the apprentices feel valued and appreciated we do pay them a little bit more than the minimum but they do get paid for the day that they have to be in college too so it’s not too bad a deal, and once qualified and their experience increases wages go up considerably in the first couple of years following completion.

If the company your working for doesn’t treat you well undoubtably you’ll move on, but think twice before jumping for the money now based on what you’ve completed so far. If there’s qualifications still to do I can guarantee that 10years from now you’ll regret not finishing them when you had the chance before kids and mortgage etc.


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## RS3 (Mar 5, 2018)

I am recruiting shift maintenance engineers for the food industry and I am paying £48kish. My engineers will earn £55k - £65k this year with O/T.
That's why you must complete your training. There will be opportunities outside of your own company that pay much more given the shortage of skills.
Finish your apprenticeship then get 2 years under your belt as a qualified engineer. Then go and see a few agents such as Techsearch and Rise Technical and tell them what you want. You will no doubt be taken back by the number of offers for interview that you are likely to receive.


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## muzzer (Feb 13, 2011)

Darlofan said:


> Why is £3 an hour disgraceful? Remember the old YTS scheme when I left school at £75 per week. It got u experience in a job which is what most people moan they can't get. If you work hard and show your good at your job and keen to learn then there's a good chance you'll be paid more and get a job at the end of it. Also good for smaller employers that might find it difficult to take someone on a higher wage. I deal with lots of people on apprenticeships, min wage etc that moan and the only bit of advice I give them is work hard show you're a grafter and I guarantee the wage will rise as well as hours if they want them. I see so many people who moan, winge and turn extra hours down, are off sick more than they are in who then get hours cut/laid off and wonder why.
> 
> OP stick at it.



Shows how young you are then , when i did a YTS it was £25 a week! 😵


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## macmark (Jan 11, 2018)

Another 8 year old thread resurrected


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

macmark said:


> Another 8 year old thread resurrected


Resurrected by some kind of bot too. One of his 3 posts is a casino spam post.


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## IvorB1H (6 mo ago)

macmark said:


> Another 8 year old thread resurrected


Oh bugger still maybe the OP will come and tell us hiw they have progressed 🤣


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## macmark (Jan 11, 2018)

IvorB1H said:


> Oh bugger still maybe the OP will come and tell us hiw they have progressed 🤣


He's probably approaching retirement now! 🤣


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## Andy from Sandy (May 6, 2011)

IMHO it is bad that companies do not do their own apprenticeship schemes to keep the staff rotation and take care of natural progress of retirees etc.

It is bad that the government had to do something to get school leavers into work and pay their wages. Maybe it is really a scam orchestrated by businesses.

My apprenticeship was highly rated at the time and would open doors to other companies.


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## IvorB1H (6 mo ago)

The government assistance on the college / university fees is invaluable to smaller businesses like ours without that we’d almost be forced to only employ senior engineers.

as it is with the assistance from government consistently 30% of our workforce is in one form of day release these are all valuable members of our teams and without that probably wouldn’t be employed by us at all.


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