Jobs & Careers with Piers Linney - 7

JAMES THOMAS

MECHANICAL APPRENTICE
'I applied for a position at FCC and
shortly after I was invited to a college
for a series of tests covering maths,
English, logic, mechanics as well as a
physical mechanical test to check my ability.
'The results of the tests gained me the opportunity
for an interview and a tour of the site before being
selected from the ﬁnal candidates for the Mechanical
Apprenticeship. I started college in September 2012
to complete my National Certiﬁcate and NVQ level 2
where I spent six months at college and six months
on site, as well as attending a personal development
week with the college in Derbyshire. The second year
I attended college once a week and completed my
National Certiﬁcate and started my NVQ level 3. All
the time I wasn't at college, I was on site carrying
out different engineering tasks working within a team.
I was also attending training courses, furthering my
knowledge and developing new skills for my job role.
'I ﬁnd it interesting working with experienced
engineers on site and contracted companies on
preventative, planned and breakdown maintenance,
fault ﬁnding and planning ahead for jobs.
'The apprenticeship programme has been a bit
challenging at times, meeting deadlines at college
while still working on site, but it is manageable with a
bit of organisation. I enjoy the physical involvement my
apprenticeship requires, but also the job knowledge
that is required to become a good engineer. I'm
currently completing my Higher National Certiﬁcate
and hope to further my education to degree level.'

JACK PICKERING

APPRENTICE
ENERGY FROM WASTE
'I started at FCC in September
2012 after I had an assessment
day that tested my practical skills
and theoretical knowledge. Upon
completion of the training day, I was offered a
formal interview and was successful in securing an
apprenticeship in FCC's Energy from Waste business.
'My apprenticeship consists of overall theory
about engineering at college and I attended West
Nottinghamshire Engineering College in Mansﬁeld.
I have worked towards and completed a technical
certiﬁcate in Level 3 Engineering Operations &
Maintenance. Along with the technical certiﬁcate, you
also complete an NVQ. The NVQ I completed was an
NVQ Level 3 in Electrical Engineering Maintenance.
'My work based training was at Eastcroft Energy from
Waste Facility plant in Nottingham. With the amount of
work required for the apprenticeship it was challenging
but staying organised and getting my head down
served me well and I soon saw the beneﬁt of it.
'A typical day for me is to complete my routine checks,
attend to personal responsibilities regarding maintenance
and checks of certain plant equipment as well as helping
senior engineers with faults, projects and installations.
'I am a "hands-on" person so I like the fact that my
job is very practical. As for the company, I like the fact
that whenever I need support it is provided and I have
the opportunity to work on state-of-the-art technology
within the plant. I am keen to progress within FCC and
would like to work within a maintenance team.'

Visit our careers page to ﬁnd out how you can be part of our team:
www.fccenvironment.co.uk/careers.html
http://www.fccenvironment.co.uk/careers.html
Jobs & Careers with Piers Linney

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Jobs & Careers with Piers Linney
