Age 13-14, I started out with a thought of a potential career pathway to become an engineer in year 8. I had no clue how I was going to get to that point and no idea where to find out how, however, it was my relatives and friends of my parents that made me have that thought. I was still at that age where there was an overwhelming amount of other options so I had plenty of time to decide what career pathway I wanted to take on. I initially applied for WMG Academy For Young Engineers Solihull not knowing what type of engineering I wanted to get into but wanted to see where this school could take me.

At ages 15-16, I wanted a fresh start at a school where there are so many opportunities for careers, apprenticeships and recently implementing T-levels, therefore, moving schools to WMG Academy was one of the best decisions I’ve made. As I expand and improve my knowledge, skills and experience, I soon came to realise engineering is the pathway I would love to undertake.

Coming up to the end of February 2024, I took some time to research and look deeper into a few of the companies I’d like to apply for. I then found out about Make UK an apprenticeship fair, which is where I researched about a couple of companies I was interested in and their apprenticeships that were vacant on their websites as well as the companies that I spoke to. By this time, I was very keen to get into an apprenticeship, therefore, I dedicated myself towards applying for a couple and strived at preparing for my GCSEs to ensure I got the required grades.

Approaching the end of June, I’d received a response for my Multi-skilled Maintenance Engineer Apprentice application mentioning for me to attend an interview. This was the first stage of interviewing, which I knew I had to perform and stand out in front of the rest. After gaining the feedback from the 1st interview, I got offered a position which recently became vacant at the time and was told continuous improvement would suit my personality a lot better, which I 100% agreed with. I was then invited to attend a face-to-face interview at Sertec, Wincaster House. I knew this was my final time to stand out in front of the rest and was very excited but nervous at the same time for the interview.

I’m now in the second year of my level 3 apprenticeship, which I have no regrets at all since applying. There’s not a day when I’m not learning and what’s been said to me is as being a part of the continuous improvement department, you’ll never stop learning. I’m keen to progress each day in a very friendly working environment both at the training provider and on site.

Oliver Price – Continuous Improvement Engineer Apprentice