Tell us about your employer

JCB - designs and builds off highway construction and agricultural vehicles as well as standalone engine and transmissions - customer base ranges from large construction rental agencies, individual construction contractors and agricultural customers as well.

What was the position you were recruited for. Please briefly outline the position you were recruited to within your organisation and summarise the business needs and role you fulfil

Graduate engineer - rotational placement covering engineering design, engineering development and a commercial placement - with the scheme lasting 18 months and a permanent job offered in design or development at the end of the scheme. Engineering design involves heavily CAD based work designing components for the vehicles, engineering development involves testing machines in the field to ascertain if they meet required standards and are safe to sell to the customer.

What attracted you to this position?

I wanted an engineering role that involved working on industrial and agricultural vehicles, I also wanted to be part of JCB as they have an interesting design program for vehicle electrification and the development of Hydrogen combustion engines.

I also wanted to join a company on a graduate scheme as it allows you more flexibility to choose which role you fulfill rather than being tied to one specific role as soon as you enter the company.

What are the key skills you learnt at Warwick that have helped you with your career to date?

The ability to quickly learn and absorb information as well as how to properly manage my time when on projects and how to work constructively in a team of other engineers.

As well as this a baseline knowledge of CAD skills and general engineering good practice.

What has been your greatest career challenge to date and how did your experience and skills help overcome it?

JCB's machines are heavily hydraulics based - having no prior knowledge or training in this field I was presented with a large challenge to further my knowledge to a point where I could confidently help with design and development work - the skills I had gained to help me quickly learn about a topic and start working with it really helped with this challenge.

What top tips would you give to students looking for a career in your market sector?

There are very few UK based companies in this sector so you can be limited with your choice of companies - so gaining similar experience during university - internships, year in industry etc in vehicle based companies can set you apart from the competition.

What do you know now that you wish you had known when you were applying for jobs?

Everyone else applying has completed a very similar degree and will have completed very similar projects during that degree. Using purely project based experiences as examples of skills etc when applying for jobs will not be enough to set you apart from the competition. What will set you apart is any extra activities you do whilst at university - joining societies completing engineering projects not part of the curriculum - engineers without borders etc - or just purely engineering based projects you complete at home - fixing cars or bike etc.