Hi, my name is Robert Hole, I am completing a fabrication apprenticeship at Babcock International
My apprentice trade, why I chose it and why I chose Babcock:
I am studying fabrication, which is the craft of making components/parts out of raw material. The trade in itself is very diverse and you learn a range of different skills, when I started I had no idea what to do with anything related to fabrication, but I have been taught from the ground up and progressed through hand skills and different types of material.
Looking back, I wouldn’t have thought I would have come so far within such a short period of time. That is what I like about this job the most.
I chose Babcock because of their reputation. They have looked after me throughout my apprenticeship and the company itself has many routes for progression and good rates of pay, which is what I look for in a job.
My Typical Day:
My typical day consists of travelling into college, getting into my personal protective equipment (PPE) and making sure I have filled out my required Health and Safety documentation for the day. I then gather my work documents and I start my working day continuing the project I have been assigned to. I always try to prioritise my workload making sure I factor in the time scale for each task. I then continue working in this order to complete all tasks until the end of the college day where I then tidy the workshop making sure I leave it in a safe and clean order ready for the next day.
My favourite part of the job:
One of my favourite parts of the job is the diversity within it. Every day I am learning and achieving something new about my trade which will help me advance further within my career in the future.
Most challenging thing I’ve ever done to date:
The most challenging yet rewarding thing I have done is join the apprentice ambassador scheme, helping with the recruitment of new apprentices with the filming of a video. Making this video was challenging as I have always suffered with low confidence when faced with cameras but I overcame this and gained more confidence as a result.