At Chemring, across our businesses will look to support young people, and those at the start of their careers, through the next stages of their development. Meet Esme King, Advanced Apprentice (Maintenance Engineering).
Hi, I’m Esme and I currently work at the Chemring Countermeasures UK site.
After spending three and a half years as an apprentice on-site, I am now a fully qualified multi-skilled maintenance engineer.
I've always had an interest in figuring out how things work and how they are put together. At an early age, I started to build, fix and make all sorts of things. Then at school I got a proper taste for engineering and realised this was something I wanted to pursue as a career. Like lots of people, I discovered I was much better at practical tasks than paperwork, so the apprenticeship scheme fitted me perfectly. It's given me a more hands-on approach to achieve the same level of education and qualifications. That practical application of new skills has really helped me to learn more and develop my knowledge and confidence.
It has also allowed me to gain the experience and knowledge that you can only learn in the workplace. It’s certainly given me a head start compared to the college based courses that were my alternative.
One thing I enjoy about my job is the variety. As a maintenance engineer, no job or day is the same. One day I may be stripping a pump apart to refurbish it and the next I am fault finding on a machine to fix an ongoing issue. I get to apply a whole range of skills to lots of different tasks.
My job is also very rewarding. For example, we had a big issue on one of the automated squib machines causing a high percentage of rejects (a squib is a miniature explosive device). After watching the machine run, I found that one of the problems was due to a timing issue. One of the cylinders was retracting too quickly and therefore not placing or incorrectly placing the washer. To fix this, I slowed down the cylinder allowing it to have more time to place the washer. This corrected the problem and significantly decreased the fail rate. It gave me a real sense of pride to see and understand the initial problem and then implement the solution and be given the autonomy to do that.
Doing my apprenticeship and learning on the job has given me invaluable skills and competence. For others looking at doing an apprenticeship, I would highly recommend it. It really is the best way to get the qualifications, skills, and experience you need to succeed in engineering.
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Careers – Chemring Group PLC