“I work in the Services & Projects division of Schneider Electric. We offer control systems to ensure important buildings (Banks, Internet Data Centres, Hospitals) have a reliable power supply in the event of mains failure. I tell people that we supply ‘everlasting power’ because that’s what our products do.

I finished school with reasonable GCSEs but wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. So I wrote to lots of different companies asking for just some work experience. Schneider said ‘Yes’ and soon one week turned into three. At the end they were impressed with my enthusiasm and offered me an apprenticeship.

It should take 4 years to complete my Advanced Apprenticeship in Electrical Engineering. The first year I went to College half the week and worked the other half. I completed an NVQ in ‘Performing Engineering Operations’, and now I go to college just on Mondays for a City and Guilds in ‘Electrical Installation’. Avon Vale are my training provider and it’s their job to guide me through the apprenticeship and help me succeed.

I’m now into the third year of the apprenticeship and more of my training is at work. At the moment I build large control panels from scratch. We start with empty metal cabinets (sometimes as large as a wardrobe), and follow detailed drawings to install specified components, breakers, terminals and wiring. I’m learning something new every day.

I thought engineering was just about people like Brunel and building things like trains. What I’ve learnt through meeting other apprentices at college is that engineering is so diverse. That’s what I’d say was special about engineering - that it is such a wide and varied sector with so many different skills and opportunities.

The apprenticeship has been really good for me and I’m so lucky to be doing it. I really enjoy coming to work. My advice would be ‘Be positive. Be enthusiastic’. It’s like anything - the more you put in – the more you get out!