The theme of the 2023 National Apprenticeship Week is ‘Skills for Life’. This means that it’s all about encouraging young people to develop lifelong, useful skills through an apprenticeship.
At Donaldson Timber Engineering, we believe in building positive futures, meaning that our apprenticeships aim to give young people interesting and valuable skills in a rewarding career path.
To give you an insight into what an apprenticeship here at DTE entails, we spoke to Theo, an engineering apprentice from our Buckhaven site.
What encouraged you to get into engineering?
I have always been interested in finding out how things work and in school I much preferred subjects like Maths, Engineering and Physics. I left school to study Mechanical Engineering at college, I completed the course and soon after secured my apprenticeship with Donaldson Timber Engineering.
What’s the most interesting thing you have learned so far?
Learning the process for fault finding on some of our machines has been interesting and I’m also interested in learning to weld.
What does a typical day look like for you at DTE?
In any given day I could be doing anything from college work to repairing a piece of equipment critical to the business. Every day I’ve spent at Donaldson Timber Engineering, so far, has been different and enjoyable.
What advice would you give anyone who is wanting to do an engineering degree / get into engineering?
Find out as much as you can about the company you’re applying for, for example what they do and what you will do working with them. You will be asked about this if you get to the interview stage. If you don’t get to interview, try again. Be resilient and keep trying!
A big thank you to Theo for sharing his apprenticeship experience, as you can see everyday is exciting and different with the opportunity to learn skills for life. We hope this has given those looking for a timber engineering apprenticeship the inspiration to go for it!
Keep your eye on our careers page for future apprenticeships here at Donaldson Timber Engineering. For more information on National Apprenticeship Week visit: https://nationalapprenticeshipweek.co.uk/