I had high expectations of BAE Systems before I started, as I had heard only good things about their Graduate and Undergraduate setup. I can say now, going into my ninth month that all my expectations have been fulfilled.

I expected to be heavily involved with the design process, as this is what I had focused on during my first two years at university. However, this was not to be the case, as I worked my way through reliability to design to trials, and getting involved in other essential types of engineering on the way. The thing that has surprised me the most is that I am treated as a normal employee, being given responsibilities in high pressure situations, and being asked for my opinions despite my apparent lack of experience.

Whilst working on reliability trials, I was one of the links between our trials team and the customer. During the trials, if any unplanned incidents were to occur, it was my job to collate the relevant data from both parties to quickly compile a small report which was to be officially recorded onto our database. Some of these incidents would determine whether or not the vehicles would be successful during the trials, so I had to ensure that all the data was as accurate as it could be, and presented in a way that was clear to both BAE Systems and the customer. I consider this to be my greatest challenge so far, as I had to work in a high pressure environment, and ensure that I didn’t make any mistakes which could hinder the progress of the vehicles during the trial stages.

After that I became a design engineer on a relatively new project, yet to go into production. Using information I retrieved from various engineers on the project I had to design a new method of bearing pin anti-rotation, as the previous design had failed. I found this a very interesting project to work on, as in order to work towards my goal I had to network with a series of different engineers and technicians to ask for help. In doing this, their experience and knowledge greatly improved mine.

My career path then led me to where I am now, a Trials Engineer. I am responsible for analysing data from Titan Hydraulic Investigations, and collating it all into a report so the whole team knows what stage the investigations are at. Again, this is highly interesting as I get to be with the vehicles on a day to day basis and I get a chance to see how the vehicles are developed throughout.

Despite enjoying the challenge of design, I find the most enjoyable part of my job, being out with the vehicles, and getting a chance to see how the design stages end up with a full working vehicle. I enjoy carrying out the vehicle trials process, and then gathering relevant data and analysing it to try and find a way to get the most out of the vehicles so we can offer the customer a high class product.

I would say my most notable achievement to date is helping the Trojan vehicles pass reliability trials. For the future, I hope to have successfully completed my degree, returned to BAE Systems and completed my Graduate Development Framework. By that time I could be well on my way to a successful career within the company.

The advice I would give to a finalist considering an application is definitely go for it. The experience you will obtain from working with such a large company is worth more than anything you will learn through studying. And never be afraid to ask for help, because there’s no such thing as a silly question.