Case Studies

Choosing the right path

Wednesday 27th January 2010 5:18 PM

Coming up to my GCSE's in 2005, I was at a bit of a loose end deciding what I wanted to do the following year. I knew that I wanted to take a path into engineering but with so many options available, I needed to be certain that which ever route I were to decide on would be the right one.

The immediate option would have been to stay on and complete A levels at the school I was already attending, and I am sure that most school leavers will agree that there is an element of pressure from the school itself put onto pupils to stay on at Sixth Form. Unfortunately for them, I decided almost immediately that this was not for me. I had toyed with the idea of doing only 2 A levels at Sixth Form alongside a part time BTEC course in mechanical engineering, however this would only have worked out if the timetables weren't going to clash; undoubtedly they would do.

So then my next option would have been to just go straight on to college and do a full time course there instead, it was about time for a change of scenery from the old schoolyard. After attending various college open nights and course interviews, I still felt that nothing had really appealed to me so far.

Our year group later attended a regional careers convention to give us all a bit of inspiration. Out of all of the stalls and representatives there, only a select few took my eye. I spent some time talking to the Leeds Training Trust who were able to give me plenty of advice about the options available for me, things that hadn't even crossed my mind yet. I took a big pamphlet full of information and application packs, and decided pretty much there and then that an Apprenticeship was for me. Before this, I had all of the common misconceptions about apprenticeships that I am sure many will have heard before; the main one being that "Apprenticeships are for drop-outs".

I filled out and posted the LTT application and whilst waiting for a response I decided to look into any other available apprenticeships I might be interested in. The ones that really caught my eye were Rolls Royce based in Derby, and an aeronautical engineering company based in Luton but they were both too far from home. I was keeping my fingers crossed for a positive reply from LTT and soon enough, it came. I was invited to an aptitude test and interview at LTT HQ. I was successful in both and told that they would put me in touch with any companies interested in employing me as an Advanced Modern Apprentice.

Within a couple of weeks I had received a few letters from three companies including Sulzer. I looked into each company and thought it would be a good idea to attend all three interviews for the sake of getting some interview experience, but out of the three I knew that Sulzer looked most appropriate for me. I attended my interview at the Sulzer Pumps UK site in South Leeds, at which one of the LTT reps was also present. During the interview, I was asked whether I wanted to take the mechanical or electrical route. I chose mechanical and three weeks later I received a letter of congratulations and a further invite to an open evening. Out of around 250 initial applicants for LTT I was one of five selected to start an apprenticeship with Sulzer, who would also put us through the most suitable college courses as well. We were shown around the factory workshop, it was certainly impressive whatever it was. I couldn't wait to start. I just had to get through my GCSE's.

September soon arrived and the five of us were sat in a boardroom at Sulzer waiting for things to start and soon enough we were all getting on like a house on fire. This first day was more of an in depth induction to Sulzer as a company and employer, as well as getting to know one another. The next day we were back at the LTT HQ receiving their formal induction and filling out forms, where the staff seemed friendly enough and were quick to answer any queries we had.

After 2 days at LTT, we were ready to get things moving. The first 10 months would be spent at the local Technology College, where we would spend probably 60% of the week in the workshop learning hand fitting techniques and machining skills. The rest of the week was classroom based, with one full day dedicated to the BTEC National Certificate.

College was enjoyable. All of the tutors were easy to get on with, the homework wasn't too hefty, and best of all the modular tests were all open book, meaning we didn't need to revise everything. Throughout our time at college we had regular meetings with the LTT training officers who made sure we kept on track with everything and happy with how things were going. If they weren't on college campus they were always only a phone call away should we need them.

The class was split 50/50 between those who were employed and those seeking apprenticeship courses, though I would certainly recommend being one of the employed for simple reason that you get a good pay packet for being there. Especially at 16 years old. As well as the wage, it's also very reassuring to know that you're almost guaranteed a job at the end of it all, and in my case, with one of the top companies in its sector.

During term breaks at college some of the companies allowed their apprentices into their workshops for the weeks or fortnights that we were off. Easter was the first break that we were able to go into work. As daunting as it first was, all of the workshop guys and supervisors looked after us.

I joined the fitting shop and it didn't take long to get into the swing of things. We were still frequently visited by the LTT training officers who came on site regularly to check our progress and set us new targets to work towards. This is another reason why I am thankful I took up the apprenticeship, we had plenty of people around us to motivate and support us in both the work and the college side of things.

The following academic year would be spent on day release, working at Sulzer full time and going in to college one day a week to complete the second half of the BTEC National course.

A few months down the line I was transferred into the Gas Turbine Test Bed where I would remain to serve the majority of my remaining time there. I spent a bit of time in the welding department; the Service Centre, stripping, refurbishing, and rebuilding pumps that had been in service. But the Test Bed was where I felt most at home. The nature of the work meant that it was as close to being on a proper work site as you could be without actually leaving the Sulzer facility. This is where the larger projects would be set up for test runs, and when I say larger I really do mean big. The most recent turbine we received had to be sailed round from Liverpool to Hull and brought over to Leeds from there, because it wouldn't fit under a motorway bridge on the way from Liverpool. Then this turbine was used to drive a gearbox and two huge compressors weighing in at 28 tons each.

Working in the test bed gave me plenty of other experience which would later prove valuable for going out to work on site. There was the commissioning of various systems as well as the pump setup itself, and there were plenty of opportunities to work alongside representatives from other companies. After a few in depth conversations with my supervisor, about when he used to do a lot of site work abroad and offshore West Africa, I was sure that I wanted to follow a similar path and he gave me his full support.

From then on I was chasing up anything I thought could lead me down this route, and although most colleagues were sure I would need a good few more years working for Sulzer under my belt, both my supervisor and my training officer, Nigel Firth, kept my confidence up and helped wherever they could with any issues I had. I got in touch with a few managers in different locations to see if there were any vacancies for me to work abroad for Sulzer. I tried China, South Africa, and Angola to name a few. Until the manager of Sulzer Pumps Nigeria Ltd, came over to Leeds and gave me a bit of an interview before offering me a placement as a Field Service Engineer based in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

I was aware that Nigeria wasn't exactly most peoples' idea of paradise, but it was too good an opportunity to turn down. I'm not just talking about the wage, I mean the actual work itself and the experience that it would give me in order to pave my future, and not to mention the travelling and working on different sites. I was told that most of my work would be on power stations and on offshore installations, oil rigs and it meant that I got to do the underwater helicopter escape training. This was probably the most fun training course I've been on to date, but at the same time it was very serious.

Not long after this we had completed our full 4 year apprenticeship course and I had also completed my full HNC qualification at Wakefield College. We had all been offered full time jobs with Sulzer with me heading to Nigeria.

I have now been working out in Nigeria since September '09 and have worked on a local combined cycle power station as well as various offshore platforms, performing a number of tasks for different clients. As I write this I am currently stationed on the Bonga FPSO platform operated by Royal Dutch Shell producing almost a quarter of a million barrels of oil per day. It is hard work and even frustrating at times but it most certainly pays off.

No matter what site I go to or what job I do, everyday is different and that is one of the main aspects I enjoy about this job. Also, even though I am out of my apprenticeship, I am still learning new things every day.

Angus Rumgay
Sulzer Pumps

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