Apprenticeships: an apprentice's perspective

Over the last few months, I have focused on the impact that the NDT apprenticeships have had across various levels; however, in my experience, the biggest impact can be seen in the lives of the NDT apprentices up and down the country.

Not only are the apprenticeship programmes providing individuals with an amazing start to a career through professional NDT qualifications and hands-on experience, but they also develop an individual’s personality, behavioural attributes and professional qualities. Over the last few years, I have been lucky enough to see a number of new starters go on to accomplish fantastic achievements, such as winning national awards, achieving three PCN Level 2s before their 20th birthday and managing research and development projects that have improved mature manufacturing processes. Rather than me express my thoughts on how the apprenticeships have affected individuals’ lives, I thought it would be most appropriate to hear directly from an NDT apprentice. Therefore, I asked Andy Zubczyk, a Rolls-Royce NDT Engineer apprentice, to reflect on his own experiences as an NDT apprentice:

“My first exposure to NDT was in the first year of my college studies; it was in the form of some liquid penetrant inspection done on used brake discs, as part of the materials science module. The premise made quite the impression on me, namely the fact that my old teacher was able to make cracks seemingly appear out of nowhere after spraying a layer of non-aqueous wet developer on the disc. So, going forward, I had NDT at the back of my mind.

“So far during my apprenticeship, I’ve jumped into a freezing cold lake in Eskdale, successfully completed five L2 training courses to EN 4179 (FPI, MPI, ET, RT and UT), represented Rolls-Royce across numerous young careers events, abseiled down a cliff, assisted in various NDT functions across our supply chain, been trusted with creating working instructions for some previously unused kit, taken part in external supplier audits, familiarised myself with the function of Nadcap and some of its checklists, accrued 400 hours of fluorescent penetrant inspection experience and reworked an internal NDT appreciation course and delivered the first pilot!

“I’ve been a regular attendee at the East Midlands BINDT Branch meetings, which has been very insightful, both in terms of an emerging technology perspective and in understanding the breadth of the NDT industry. The Rolls-Royce outward bound programme, which I have been lucky to be a part of, developed my interpersonal and leadership skills and taught me the importance of inner reflection.

“I hope to finish my university studies with a first-class award and set myself up for a successful IEng application. I would also quite like to aim to achieve CEng chartership at some point in my career, which likely means I’ll be looking to continue university studies to masters level. Other than that I would like to actively contribute in making NDT more recognisable for students at schools, colleges and sixth forms.”

People often tell me that they ‘fell’ into NDT, by knowing a family member who used to come home in illuminous liquid or by talking to the guy in the corner of the workshop who was looking at some lines on a small box. Is this always going to be the case? By looking at Andy’s first exposure to NDT, I think that this says a lot. Maybe one way to ensure the sustainability of our industry and to reduce the skills gap would be to conduct outreach NDT activities in schools, universities and careers events. This would allow young people to be exposed to the alternative career options and generate a new level of awareness.

Please note that the views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not represent the views of JetSoft.

Sam Cunningham is with JetSoft and is a member of BINDT’s Education & Professional Development Committee, which oversees the development of the NDT apprenticeships. He is also an Associate Lecturer for the NDT apprenticeship programme with the University of Northampton.

Employers in England looking to recruit an apprentice can find up-to-date guidance at: www.gov.uk/recruit-apprentice

Details of the current apprenticeship vacancies in England are available at: www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

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