Students from East Coast College have been given a taste of what it’s like to work in the engineering sector thanks to one of the town’s major employers.
Birds Eye Ltd signed up to the college’s work placement programme to help offer students an insight into what life may be like after they have finished their training.
A total of 12 students were offered placements with the company and each spent 16 hours shadowing engineers to learn more about roles within the organisation. The students saw just how varied life as an engineer can be with days filled with tasks which ranged from machine maintenance and dealing with break downs, to attending meetings and writing reports.
Michele Dodds, HR advisor at Birds Eye, said: “We chose to support this scheme as we are big advocates of apprenticeship schemes and for the last four years have taken on one engineering apprentice each year.
“We have an appreciation as a team of understanding how important it is for students to gain workplace experience. Our current apprentices and Engineers who have been with us for quite some time are more than happy to support these schemes as they recognise that, if it wasn’t for these types of placements, they may have found it harder to be where they are today,” she continued.
Chance Carr, a Level 3 Engineering Technologies (Maintenance) student, said: “It was really interesting to see a workplace and engage with employees. This work experience really boasted my motivation to gain an apprenticeship, finally being able to see what my potential future career would consist of.”
Fellow Engineering Technologies student Harry Phoenix added: “I applied for the work experience as I am looking for an apprenticeship and it seemed like a great opportunity to see what it would be like as a maintenance engineer in a factory. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Birds Eye and it was a great experience.”
Students from all departments at the college are able to apply for work experience placements as a way to help them prepare for the world of work. A wide range of companies and organisations have already offered placements including AKD, Pleasurewood Hills, Persimmon Homes and All Hallows Hospital, to name just a few.
If you are an employer and would like to know more about the work placement programme contact Stacey on 01502 525106 or email s.rudd@eastcoast.ac.uk