Choosing a future career
By Jacob Mosley, 16-year-old, Year 11 student with Stocksbridge High School in Sheffield.
During my work experience with Jackie Cook at CQ Strategic Marketing, I have learnt lots of new things and been welcomed to new careers and industries, therefore leading for me to have a better understanding of what’s out there and gradually piecing together a future occupation for me.
On day one, I had the pleasure of visiting NEC (Nuclear Energy Components, an engineering and manufacturing company located in Bradwell, Derbyshire). At NEC I was introduced to all the employees and their different job roles. Jackie gave me a tour around NEC, showing me all the different types of machinery and introducing me to some of the employees and which particular role they do on a day-to-day basis. I also gained an overview of marketing from Jackie and she told me what she does for the NEC while also helping me set up my linked in connecting me with a range of people. Jackie introduced me to Matt Keeley, who talked to me about which path he took to get to the position he is in now, from machining apprentice to Director, and what he does on a day-to-day basis. He gave me a further tour round the NEC where he showed me a demonstration of different CNC machines and showed me the different sectors of the company, all of which led to spiking my interest in mechanical engineering and machining.
On day two, I had the experience of going to Addition Design/AddParts (a Plastic 3D printing company) where they 3D print parts for machines on packaging lines. I met the Director of AddParts, Tom Fripp, which he showed me how 3D printing works and also gave me an overview of what the business does and the service they provide to their customers. Alongside this, Jackie helped me write copy for her business, taught me how to format text and also taught me the basics of WordPress (a website management system) all developing my marketing skills. Tom also showed me some of the projects they had previously worked on and showed me some of the parts they had at the office which opened my eyes to all of the different jobs tied in with engineering.
On the final day, I had the opportunity of going to Airmaster (an air conditioning company) where they fit a range of air conditioning systems into different buildings. Jackie introduced me to the different roles at Airmaster including CAD designers, mechanical maintenance engineers the on-site fitters and more. Sam Casadei (a Mechanical Design Engineer) showed me the principles of what he does on a day-to-day basis and an overview of his particular role. Jackie gave me the opportunity of managing her different social media channels for the day and showed me how to upload business related posts onto Facebook, LinkedIn and X. She also showed me how to add pictures to a website blog using WordPress and how to format them around the text correctly. This helped to advance my marketing skills and gave me an overview of marketing as a whole.
Jackie Cook, MD said “Jacob has been a pleasure to have on work experience, when he came on work experience, he started with an interest in engineering and in marketing but unsure of what career he would want to pursue. He has been willing to ask questions to find out more about the career options available. He has spent time in several different workplace environments, has behaved professionally, been willing to learn and shown an attention to detail in the work he has been given.”
