Shrewsbury Apprenticeships

• 15 months full-time at college to achieve a Level 2 qualification, which will include additional units specific to our business. This incorporates a number of weeks where you will be in-company full-time with planned on-the-job training.
  • This provides an excellent foundation of basic skills and theory for a career in manufacturing and engineering.
  • During this period, you will be regularly visited by Caterpillar Shrewsbury leaders and you will spend a number of weeks working on site, to ensure that we build a relationship with you and that you feel part of our business and become familiar with the site itself.
• 2 years’ day release (1 day per week) to complete BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma
  • Three days per week in work with 1 day per week day release. Work-based learning with on-the-job training allows you to learn from our skilled workforce whilst bringing new and innovative practices to our business. This phase includes a structured rotation plan where you will gain experience in a number of operational areas of the business.

Upon successful completion of the apprenticeship, you will be a qualified Engineering Technician. You will also be professionally recognised by the IMechE (Institute of Mechanical Engineers).

Our current apprentices regularly represent our business at various Future Talent events whilst also participating in other internal projects and external opportunities to build their abilities, such as the World Skills competition and the Army Reservists Challenge.

Our Apprenticeships 

Our apprenticeship offerings are aimed at developing the specialist engineering skills needed for our business. Therefore, the specific roles can vary year on year. This provides you with the choice and the options to develop your desired career.

2022 Recruitment Updates

February 2022: our vacancies for apprenticeships to start in September 2022 will be in the following areas and are now open for applications!

• Engine Assembly, Transmissions Assembly, Engine Test
• Machining
• Maintenance
• Quality Component Inspection
• Technical Engineering – Development Engineering

See below to find out more and apply.

Note: the structure of our schemes, which include qualifications, delivery models, schedules, and content will differ dependent on discipline, course and college partners and business requirement

What do I need to apply?

At Caterpillar, we are proud of our 5 core values which are: Integrity, Excellence, Team Work, Commitment, Sustainability. We ask that those applying for this apprenticeship possess the following:

Good hand-eye coordination and dexterity.

Be interested in mechanical and electrical engineering.

If these values and personal qualities sounds like you then this apprenticeship scheme has been designed for you!

The academic requirements for entry onto the course of study are:

• You must be 16 or over with the relevant qualifications (or equivalent).
  • All of our apprenticeship schemes require you to have attained three GCSE grades (or predicted grades) of A*–C/4–9, including Maths, Science and English (or equivalent). For Machining and Technical Engineering, you are required to have attained five GCSEs at the above grades. You must be able to evidence these qualifications.
• There are no age restrictions on any of our apprenticeship schemes.
• You must be eligible to live and work in the UK.
• You must not be in full-time education at the start of the apprenticeship, 1st September.
• You must not have completed any prior training or a previous apprenticeship similar or the same as the vacancy you are applying for. If you are concerned about this aspect and the qualifications you have, please contact HRShrewbury@cat.com with the details of your existing qualification.

Benefits of employment with caterpillar

We offer a range of benefits and your salary will increase as you achieve your academic milestones and gain experience. You will find the salary in the relevant vacancy details when you apply.

When working at our facility, you will work a 37-hour week, Monday to Thursday. (If you are under 18, your daily hours of work may be reduced to comply with Working Time Regulations.) When at college, you will work a 5-day week.

How to apply

We typically recruit apprentices for Shrewsbury during March, with apprentices starting in September. When we’re recruiting, there will be a link here to our vacancies and to submit your application.

Outside of the February/March period, you can sign up to our expression of interest where we will keep you up to date with our future offerings as they become available. Get in touch on HRShrewsbury@cat.com. 

I’ve applied. What happens next?

Thank you for applying! Here is typically what happens next and the process takes around 6 weeks after the closing date:

• Application Form Screening - Your application will be passed through a rigorous screening process by our third party service provider or UK Recruitment Team.
• Assessment Centre - This will consist of group exercises, a practical exercise, an interview and a presentation. Details will vary depending on the discipline applied for.

We wish you the very best of luck

I have a question or would like to provide feedback.

Feel free to email us at HRShrewsbury@cat.com.

We are more than happy redirect your question to the relevant person and we value all feedback as it allows us to continuously improve our processes.