Hey, I was wondering what is your interest? Is it to be in the R&D or to be in the harsh environment of the maintenance division. If you are in the maintenance, the skills you will gain willl be the technical skills be it repairing/ maintaining mechanical, CNC or any automated machines. As the skills you acquire is more to hands-on, it doesn't help much in switching you to the R&D department. But then, I think its great if you can talk to your hiring manager and enquire about this. It shows you are interested in contributing to the company.