Deciding which Career Path is for You? Rob from Collins Aerospace tells his story.
Many young people at 15 or 16 years of age, do not know exactly what they want to do as their career. This is normal! It is important therefore to keep learning new skills, gathering knowledge and gaining as many difference experiences as possible. Even, within Engineering the career choices are vast.
Here, Rob, who is a Graduate Mechanical Engineer at Collins Aerospace, tells us how he worked out which direction his career would take and the steps he took to become a full-time engineer at this exciting company.
“I was always very interested in science in school but it was only when I did physics at A level and attended work experience events and open days that I decided that Engineering was what I wanted to do. Mechanical engineering specifically appealed to me because it has a reputation for being broad so I could specialise much later.
I knew that I didn’t want to go straight to university from school but also wasn’t sure about spending the year travelling. When I heard about the Year in Industry scheme this was clearly the balance I wanted. After applying to and accepting an offer from Collins Aerospace I worked on an electronics team during the year before then being offered sponsorship throughout university. This meant that I could return to work for Collins each summer as well as returning for their Graduate scheme following University. During my second summer of work I was transferred to the mechanical engineering team which allowed me to then apply some of the skills that I had learnt at university. I loved being a part of this team and I especially enjoyed the work I was doing which was primarily 3D design. After coming back for a third summer, I then started my graduate scheme in September 2020. Other than a few days on site, I have been working entirely from home during this time due to Covid restrictions. I have felt very supported by the team who I already know well and we all make an effort to ensure we’re staying in close contact.
Going forward, my aspiration is to become an increasingly useful member of the team. I am specifically interested in the simulation side of CAD and this is something which is becoming more sought after by other projects in the company. From a career perspective, I hope to achieve my CEng in approximately the next 5 years and with that take on more responsibility as part of my role.
A typical day for me starts around 7:30am as our flexible hours allow us to finish early (around 4pm). I spend the morning either in meetings reviewing drawings I’ve completed, working on a 3D model for a part that needs making or doing 2D drawings of electronic cable schematics. In addition, there are also many important administrative tasks which are associated with this work, as it is essential that any changes that are made along the way are recorded. If I am between tasks, I do some exercises for an online course on geometric tolerancing in 2D drawings.
I think that many more people should consider Engineering as a career. For me, I always thought the sciences were in direct contrast to the arts and certainly were not at all creative however what Engineering has taught me is that once you understand the fundamental concepts of the world around you, then you can come up with some truly intelligent and innovative solutions. There is nothing more satisfying than solving a difficult problem using your skills and training – especially when the end product is something physical and tangible!”