I consider myself a late starter having graduated back in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from Stirling University Scotland, and instead of jumping into a career I jumped into motherhood.
Two children and 10 years later I graduated with a Bachelors degree in Mechanical and Marine Engineering (I believed it was a good idea to link my two degrees) from John Moores University Liverpool.
Six months before my final year exams I started hunting for my first full-time profession and the criteria I searched for were:
- A graduate programme and opportunities for Continuous Professional Development to ultimately gain Chartered status
- An industry that was robust and continuously evolving
- A graduate salary that met my expectations (following research of average graduate salaries)
- A company close to my home
I applied to many companies and was offered a number of interviews but only AMEC fulfilled all of the above criteria.
I am currently still in my first year of a two year graduate programme and am on my second placement within the company, with two more placements remaining. My first placement was with the Safety and Reliability team and I am currently in the Control and Handling Systems team. I find the work very varied; one day I’m on site looking at submarines and the next day I’m writing a Safety Document for a technical project. I prefer the diversity of the AMEC development programme as it’s more challenging.
For the duration of my graduate programme I have been assigned a Mentor who provides advice and support. An exercise every three months is to write progress reports on the work I have been doing, plus a work plan for the next three months on what I would like to do. The progress reports have helped me to pin point my strengths and weaknesses.
AMEC provides a range of training courses which supply a background to the industries represented within the company, together with a basis of the knowledge required for my role.
I am a member of the following institutions: SUT, IMarEST, IMechE and BNES and for the last five months I have been attending meetings with the North Wales and Merseyside IMechE divisions and the joint IET/IMechE Young Members Panel. I attend technical lectures held by AMEC, IMarEST, IMechE and BNES, which keep me informed and updated about the latest technologies throughout my field.
My future with AMEC looks very bright. My plans include doing a Masters degree in Nuclear Decommissioning and gaining Chartered Status with the intention of becoming a Lead Engineer.