Tell us a bit about your current role
I am the Mechanical Maintenance Technician at Chemring’s Ardeer site. I respond to plant breakdowns and unexpected issues and then use my knowledge and experience to come up with the best solution. My role covers the whole Ardeer site, so I’m exposed to a wide range of different types of machinery, chemicals, and teams.
I tackle a mixture of planned and unplanned maintenance. There’s never any danger of getting bored! I love the problem-solving aspect of the job. There is no written way of doing things, as each problem is different. It makes it more interesting and means that I’m learning all the time.
How did you find out about the Chemring apprenticeship?
In college, I was doing an aeronautical engineering course. Part of the course was to build your CV and my lecturer mentioned an open day at Chemring. I visited her office to give in my CV, but she was out, so I slid it under the door. To be honest, I didn’t think she’d come back to me but, two weeks later, she got in touch to say that Chemring wanted to interview me. I then did two panel interviews and was delighted to get the apprenticeship.
It took two years to complete my apprenticeship and gain my HNC Mechanical Engineering qualification. I also have a SVQ Level 3 and a Performing Engineering Operations (PEO) qualification. I finished the course about 14 months ago and was offered a full-time mechanical technician position back in October.
How did you decide on a career in engineering and what do you like about it?
It seems to be what I’m naturally good at. I like practical problems, so it feels like a natural path for me. Throughout the apprenticeship I realised that the best thing you can learn is how to learn. It’s quite a humbling process and a major life lesson. It allows you to take a step back and learn how to focus.
There is certainly more I’d like to do. If I was offered the opportunity to study further at university, I would definitely take that up. I’d like to continue with either manufacturing engineering or mechanical engineering. In the future, I’d love to get to the point where I’m able to teach other apprentices.
What advice would you give to anyone starting an apprenticeship today?
Go in with an open mind. And don’t have too many expectations. There is so much to learn! I never thought I’d know as much as I do now. I’d also say that you need to accept that you’re always going to make mistakes, but that’s the best way to learn. An apprenticeship exposes you to the technical side of things as well as lots of life lessons. The maintenance team are very supportive, so you won’t go far wrong.