Meet the apprentices

Apprentice diaries

Engineering and technology apprentices from a wide range of backgrounds share their experiences with you, explaining why they chose an apprenticeship, what the experience is like and how completing an apprenticeship has been of value to them.

By selecting the career history of each featured apprentice, you will be able to access their full case study explaining why they chose an apprenticeship and how completing an apprenticeship has been of value to them.

Natasha Carpenter, Special Recognition winner, IET YWE 2011

As a single mum Natasha was motivated to improve both her own and her son’s future. She decided to move away from what she considered a dead-end job as a secretary and took the big leap of moving into a new sector, one that would see her become an apprentice telecoms engineer for Cable and Wireless Worldwide.

 

 

Lydia Feasey, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy

Lydia Feasey is in the third year of her apprenticeship at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE). She is slowly working her way around the big site, learning new mechanical and electrical engineering skills and trying out different roles through the placement system. These vary a lot, from being in a design office to being in a mechanical workshop or working with an installation team, fitting parts to one of the fusion reactors.

 

Ellen James, Bentley Motors

Ellen James has loved how Bentley Motors supports its apprentices. She's encouraged to try the company's different departments out and was given real responsibilities early in her career. She's had some great opportunities including the chance to test drive a Bentley around a race track and help promote engineering in schools. She's raring to complete her apprenticeship and start a full-time role at the company, which is already supporting her degree. After that? This driven young lady already has professional registration in her sights.

 

Kirsty Rossington, National Grid

Kirsty Rossington is a substation apprentice for National Grid. Her job involves maintaining the equipment on substations to ensure the area surrounding them is supplied with electricity, and carrying out repairs if there is a fault in the system. During her off job training she is working towards City and Guilds and NVQ qualifications needed to complete her apprenticeship, along with the technical certificates for courses she has completed whilst at the training centre.

  

Steve Mann, GE Aviation Systems

A GE Aviation Systems higher engineering apprentice, Steve Mann is in the second year of his three-year programme, based in Bishop's Cleeve near Cheltenham. As someone who was struggling to financially support his full-time education, he found an apprenticeship was the ideal solution. His highlight so far been winning the GE UK new volunteer of the year award, which meant being chauffeur driven to the Millennium Hotel in London for a dinner and drinks reception with many site leaders and the head of GE in Europe.

 

Samantha Prichard, QinetiQ

Being trained to work in aeronautical engineering and getting paid to boot? Samantha Prichard has gained experience in aircraft maintenance and plans to continue this work at QinetiQ when her apprenticeship ends. Currently based at MOD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire, she is set to complete her apprenticeship in September 2012. Her aim is to stay on at the company and become involved either in maintaining the aircraft on the hangar floor or possibly working in Installations, where engineers fit various items to aircraft for modifications etc.

 

Michelle Richmond, The IET

Michelle Richmond began her career as an apprentice and champions apprenticeships as a great alternative to a university education. As the IET's director of Membership and Professional, she now manages 125 staff and a £16 million budget. Dealing with members from across the globe, she regularly makes trips to India and China amongst others. Here she tells Sue Littlemore how the only girl apprentice on her course became a director at the IET.

 

Lisa Pape, 3M

Mechanical maintenance engineering apprentice Lisa Pape is a successful fundraiser, volunteer and IET award winner. Currently in the final year of her four year craft apprenticeship at multidisciplinary company 3M, on completion of the IET accredited scheme Lisa Pape will become a fully qualified mechanical engineer. Her next step? To begin a degree course with support from the organisation.

 

Jon Fogwell, QinetiQ

Now an aircraft engineering apprentice for QinetiQ, Jon Fogwell left school when he was 17, after deciding he didn't want to go to university. Leaving higher education without really knowing what to do with himself, he started applying for jobs, and took a job in HR at the Ministry of Defence (MoD). After moving into the role of inventory manager for two years he eventually realised it wasn't for him and wanted to try something more practical. Looking around he found that an engineering apprenticeship was exactly what he needed and feels he's now found his calling as an engineer.

 

Charlotte Gough, Bentley Motors

Charlotte Gough completed her GCSEs in September 2006 and went into the sixth-form to take her A levels. Six months in she realised they just weren't for her and so she visited her local Connexions centre where they introduced her to alternative further education routes. Researching alternative routes to A levels, an apprenticeship seemed the perfect answer and she now is enjoying life at Bentley Motors and has begun working towards a degree.