My Apprenticeship Journey – Broadening Horizons
17/04/2024
Laura, Senior Systems Engineer at a leading aircraft manufacturing company, joined Cranfield on the Systems Engineering Master’s Apprenticeship after initially considering taking a year off from her role to complete an MSc.
Apprenticeship over MSc?
“I started talking to my line manager about what my options would be to return to the company after my studies,” she remembers. “They suggested I look at doing a master ’s-level apprenticeship, which the company could pay for and which would enable me to stay in my job, progress in that, and study at the same time – gaining the best of both worlds.”
“I found the course quite difficult at the time, but overall I am glad I did it,” she said. “I’ve been able to progress in my career at the same time as fulfilling a personal ambition, without having to take a year out and potentially find I wasn’t able to come back to the company.”
Achievements and Challenges of an Apprenticeship
“The course covered a wide range of topics, and I found the workshops particularly useful, working through examples to understand how to apply systems engineering in practice.
“I gained a better understanding of the wider context behind the work we do, and I’ve been able to pass that on to members of my team to help them in their development.
“I had to juggle work and study around various life events like moving house and getting married – and I got promoted to team leader midway through so I had more responsibility at work too – but I managed and overall I’m glad I did it.
“In time, I’m hoping to get chartered to help me progress even further in my career, and having done the apprenticeship will really help with that.”
Laura’s advice to her peers
“I think they need to make sure they’re committed and really want to do it,” she says. “It is a lot of work, and you don’t want to end up putting lots of time into it without getting to the end result. Make sure you’re absolutely sure from the outset, because if you’re doing it over three years it does end up feeling like quite a long time when you’re working at the same time.
“Make sure you’re fully aware of what the course entails. Look into the modules, break it down as much as possible, and weigh up the benefits of doing it against not doing it so you’re really clear on the ‘why’.
“Once you’ve decided that you definitely want to do an apprenticeship and you’ve got your place, make sure you set things up from the start by putting aside regular time to work on it and planning out what you’re going to do for the off-the-job training element. Set up a proactive meeting with the apprenticeship team to ensure your plans are going to fulfil the requirements, and check back regularly to ensure you’re staying on track.
“It’s also good to have a plan for how you are going to balance your home life with the combination of work and study, because if you don’t keep on top of it and plan your time effectively it can quickly start to feel quite overwhelming with a lot going on.”
Categories & Tags:
Leave a comment on this post:
You might also like…
Systematic Literature Review – combining your search strings
Our previous posts on the systematic review have looked at: Systematic Literature Review – Where do I begin? Systematic Literature Review – Selecting your Sources Systematic Literature Review - Identifying your search terms and constructing ...
Academic writing and being critical
Academic writing is daunting. Capturing all your thoughts and analysis and putting them down onto paper in some sort of understandable fashion is a challenge. Did you know we have resources in our Cranfield Study ...
Bank holiday hours for Library Services: Monday 6 May
Library Services staff will be taking a break on Monday 6 May for the early May bank holiday. You will still be able to access all the resources and help you need via our library ...
Cranfield’s Manufacturing and Materials Students’ Showcase Innovation at Project Day
On 26 April, Cranfield University buzzed with excitement as students from across our Manufacturing and Materials MSc programmes presented their group projects at the annual Group Project Presentation Day. This annual event presents ...
Come to a virtual study session in May
What are virtual study sessions? These are online study sessions facilitated by Library staff, where you can study independently alongside other students via Teams. They are a great way for you to dedicate specific time ...
Getting started on your School of Management thesis
Writing a thesis, business plan, internship project or company project can be a daunting task, and you might have some uncertainty or questions around how to get started. This post will share some ideas and ...