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The Student– Leon Oczeretnyi
Keen to pursue a career in electrical engineering, Leon Oczeretnyi contacted local Grimsby engineering firm LES Engineering who suggested he enrol on the ECITB’s Electrical Engineering Apprenticeship.
The ECITB Apprenticeship Experience
Sponsored by LES, Leon attends the City & Guilds course at the ECITB’s Immingham CATCH centre five days a week, where he is rapidly learning new skills, from designing and building complex circuitry to presenting the results to the course tutors and fellow students. Following the mandatory first year foundation course, Leon is planning to specialise in Instrumentation with the long term goal of attaining a Supervisory MSc or possibly even higher.
Each week the group is set a complex design and installation challenge involving taking measurement data from a circuit plan, designing and installing the solution. Students record all activities in their course log book, including their approach and design rationale. Finally, the students present their findings to the group with the solution assessed for its effectiveness and elegance of design.
“I may not be the fastest on the course but I’m probably the tidiest” commented Leon, “It’s important to me that design not only works well but that it’s clean and compact.”
For others thinking about enrolling on the ECITB Electrical Engineering Apprenticeship, Leon has the following advice. “This is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done but it isn’t an easy ride. My mum used to struggle to get me out of bed in the morning but it’s very different when it’s your job. The challenges we are being set are tough - in the first year we’re based between the classroom and the workshop so we can make mistakes without any great consequences, but next year we will working on real life installations such as turbines and electricity generators where getting it wrong could be disastrous. For that reason we’ve learned the importance of testing every aspect of our design at the concept stage before we ever start building them.”
“However, I’m learning far more than just electrical engineering. I’ve learned to prioritise my work and talk confidently in front of the group - and since we have different strengths on the course we’re learning the importance of working together as a team. I’d recommend the course to anyone who wants a career in electrical engineering and who’s prepared to work hard to get there.”
Qualities required
You'll need to be able to work logically and safely, and have excellent fault-finding and diagnostic skills. You will need good eyesight, including good colour vision, and good manual dexterity.
What you could be working on
Looking after all the high voltage power generation and distribution systems found on construction sites and building projects as well as motors, control systems and electrical equipment. Learning how to use sensitive test and measuring instruments, as well as power and hand tools. Maintain plant and equipment as well as identify common electrical faults and their causes.
Contacts
- Jim Kinnell
- Head of Apprenticeships Programmes
- Theresa Bisgrove
- Apprenticeships Administrator