Recruiting drive for five Apprentice Mechanical Engineers MHR

Reading the local weekly new paper ( Winchester Extra) and also on the MHR web site. There is another recruiting drive for five Apprentice Mechanical Engineers as well as an Apprentice Supervisor.

http://www.watercressline.co.uk/News/Latest/view/156

 

I see they have a salary band for the apprentices, "dependent upon age". Can they do that?

 

Is there an age limit?? im 24 but would be very interested in this.

 

I would have thought so as under 18s dont have to be paid as much

 

I read the Apprentice Supervisor as 'Trainee Supervisor' not 'Supervisor of Apprentices' - looks a lot better in the latter context!

 

Cross-referencing to another thread elsewhere on engineering, I would expect to get craftsmen not mechanical engineers at the end of the apprenticeship quoted on the MHR website.

 

Grrr, that will NOT make them mechanical engineers...

Regards,

Dan

 

No it won't but, depending on the quality of the training, it might just turn them into promising craftsmen who are capable of overhauling and maintaining steam engines albeit under supervision for another couple of years or so.

One of my regrets about the current situation in mechanical engineering, and this isn't a swipe at the MHR, is that there isn't a career path from craft apprentice to engineer as there was when I started my apprenticeship in 1959. Then, and I was employed by Ferranti, if you got your exam results and showed that you were able to do the work, you did get moved around and off the workshop floor. Basically the apprentice was in charge of his (always his then) future. Now, if your start as a craft apprentice you are always a craft apprentice, it's like being born into a caste system.

A great shame, so many opportunities have been closed down. So much for the classless society.

Regards

 

Now I'm not saying that - I am saying an apprenticeship alone will not make them a mechanical engineer. I worked damn hard to earn that status, and I am still earning it as I work towards the status of chartered engineer, which will be recognition by my peers.

I hope that these apprentices do become fully fledged mechanical engineers in the future. A mixture of practical and theoretical backgrounds in the engineering profession is what we need.

Regards,

Dan

 

No, an apprenticeship alone will not make them into an engineer; absolutely true. But without the additional opportunities they won't make it. It's a start, that's all.

Regards

 

In response to Gav106

I would say your probably going to make more out of a chance, than some, because you want to have the chance , No there should be no age limit in this respect it should be selection on merrit in my oppinion.