VICTORIA WRIGHT

I’ve been doing different placements within the operations function, working on cost reduction projects for the Type 45 programme.  I did quite a few placements in different areas because I was trying to understand what I really wanted to do.  I think that’s why they push graduates to go and get a broad understanding and awareness of different areas of the business, so you can decide where you actually want to end up.

It’s a huge organisation globally.  They’ve got such variety and so many opportunities and that’s what attracted me mostly.  It’s the opportunities to work in so many different areas, not just product range but functions, the commercial world, project management, manufacturing; there are so many things to do.  I wanted to work in a diverse environment and that’s what BAE Systems offered.

I think though that the most challenging part is to learn how to work with other people, and because graduates tend to move quite a lot you need to make sure that you adapt to each environment and each team you’re going to work in.  So you can easily learn how the job is done, but you also need to learn how to work with people and with teams.

I like manufacturing, I like being next to the product, l like looking out of the window and seeing a ship outside and seeing that it’s still there and it’s moving along.  And every time I walk outside the yard and I look at the ships outside I still get that enthusiasm.  It’s a great motivation for me and I think that’s what I enjoy most, looking at the product outside and seeing it move from stage to stage, getting it ready for the customer.