Georgina Rhodes

"The personality types I matched with Coordinator, Influencer and Manager.Coorindator:There are many of the coordinator qualities which I can definitely agree with, with regards to my personality and the way I conduct my job role. I am a very organised person and like to use different methods to organise myself and others. With this, I am also a good communicator and this is a really important quality in my job where we have to determine the requirements of customers, both in the business and our end-customer. I also consider myself as passionate when it comes to helping others and supporting their needs, and I am always willing to help out where I can.Influencer:I enjoy working on my own, but I work really well in teams, and in my job this is essential as I have to work with lots of different people - from within my team to other departments in the business. I really enjoy being able to network with different people, and I always strive to learn more so that I can teach others using my skills,knowledge, and experience. I think being an influencer also ties in well with being a good Manager.Manager:My long-term goal is to be able to lead or manage a team. This is a role I have always seen myself in, and I think this is definitely echoed in the way I complete tasks and projects. I enjoy the different aspects of leadership and in this industry I believe that having a leader is important, for direction, control, motivation, encouragement and support. I also encourage change and am very adaptable to all situations. "

"I am a Technical Product Design Engineer, and will be completing my 4-year Apprenticeship in August 2020. I am mechanically biased but have had some experience with Electrical and Pneumatic subjects. I will be completing a Higher Level Apprenticeship, which is equivalent to a Level 4, and my apprenticeship has provided me with on-the-job training and theoretical qualifications to support this. My job has enabled me to experience multiple aspects of the business, where I have had the opportunity to work in other departments such as Commercial and Quality, to further enhance my training and develop my ever-growing skill set. The opportunities have been valuable to my overall experience and allowed me to get involved with projects which have had a positive impact on the business, with personal reward. I have been able to showcase my skills and knowledge which has led to invaluable experiences and developing responsibilities for various tasks and people, which is something I have really enjoyed. In my job, every day is a learning day and I thrive from the fact that not every day is the same, where new challenges and opportunities always come along.I have found that being a woman in a male dominated environment has only motivated me more to encourage women to pursue a career in the engineering industry. I want to continue to break social norms, challenge the stigma, and build acceptance in to the Manufacturing industry across all sectors. I am determined to continue to increase the opportunities of promoting engineering to a younger female audience by showing that women can be equally as successful as men, and the divide between men and women is becoming increasingly reduced as time goes on."

"In order to get to my current role, I experienced entering the working world and also higher level education. During my GCSEs I had the opportunity to take part in 2-weeks work experience. I seized the opportunity to work with my Dad, who was a Design Engineer at the time, for an automotive company. I experienced many different stages of developing a car during this time and I was so inspired by the work at the Design stage, mostly in awe of the work that was completed, and how the engineers used computer software to develop the geometry which became a car. This experience was confirmation that I wanted to pursue an Engineering career. After I completed my GCSEs, I decided to go job hunting for a weekend job because I wanted to get some work experience and also earn some money. This was the first time I encountered the working world and was successful in gaining a job as a waitress in a hotel. The hotel was independently owned and was very popular for weddings, so my responsibilities including bar work and waitressing for the wedding guests. On some occasions I was also responsible for being the hotels point of contact for the Bride and Groom, to ensure they had everything they needed for the day.This job was demanding but rewarding. During my final year at Sixth Form I made the decision to change my job to a Sales Assistant at a stationery store. The reason for this was to reduce the hours I worked so that I could focus on my school-work, ready for my exams. This was a customer facing job role, and something I really enjoyed. I really thrived on having the ability to help people, and this position was a good confidence booster for me with regards to enhancing my communication skills, but also on-the-spot problem solving for the customers. Aside from my work experience, I opted to go to my school's Sixth Form to achieve my A-Levels after completing my GCSEs. I always knew I wanted to go in to Engineering but I wasn't sure which pathway. I did not feel quite ready to leave school after completing Year 11, so I chose A-Levels as my next educational step and focused on Maths and Physics as my main subjects.I made a decision quite early on in Sixth Form that I wasn't keen on attending University. My school was previously very University focused and I wanted to be different. Based on this, I started doing some research and decided I wanted to secure a Higher Level Apprenticeship (Level 4). I still applied to University but this was my absolute last option, as I had applied to over 30 apprenticeships and was successful in gaining 5 offers overall. This gave me a decision to make and I had to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages with each apprenticeship, as they were all very different. My favourite apprenticeship was with Ishida and I can happily say that I am graduating from my apprenticeship at Ishida this August after 4 years in to a full-time Design Engineering role - my dream job!"

"I like to keep a balance between my work life and social life. I think this is my way of maintaining a healthy body and healthy mind. Therefore, during my spare time I like to go to the gym and the reason for this is to bring me into a different environment and it is also good to keep me fit.I practise different routines so that I don't get bored and it keeps my mind active but also relaxed. A few years ago I also took up skiing as a new hobby. This was something I had not experienced previously but really enjoyed taking part in lessons and using time during my weekends to go a practice on indoor slopes. My first skiing holiday was to Bulgaria and I think the next destination may be somewhere in France. It has given me a great opportunity to try something new and travel.Moreover, I have a passion for sign-language. I am continually inspired by people who are dealt with everyday challenges but overcome them regardless of their ability, demonstrating commitment, dedication and defiance against society and social norms. I have been inspired by family members who work with children who are deaf and autistic, and the most effective form of communication they use is Makaton or British Sign Language. I found this enlightening, encouraging and moving because this is a characteristic which so many people have in common, but not everybody has the ability to communicate in this way. Therefore, I have an ambition to learn and talk using sign-language, so I am currently enrolled on a British Sign-Language Course Levels 1 and 2. Although this is not yet complete, I am finding learning this new language rewarding and empowering.I am also an avid reader. This activity is something I can do most days and is a really good relaxation tool. I am open to all sorts of genres and story lines, but my favourite book to date is Birdsong by Sebastian Faulkes, which is World War 1 fiction. "

"My working week is Monday-Friday, where the hours I work are Monday-Thursday is 08:30am until 05:00pm and Friday is 08:30am until 04:30pm. Sometimes I work outside of these hours, sometimes paid, sometimes not (this depends on the length of time you work over). My typical day starts with getting to work ready to start at 08:30am. I usually get there a little bit earlier so I can get myself ready and relax a little before starting my working day. My first task of the day is usually checking my emails and spending some time replying to them, organising meetings or conducting work calls. I usually then plan the different tasks I need to get completed that day, whether it was something left over from the day before, or a new task which I have been allocated. I then have a look to see if I have any meetings that day, plan or study the agenda, and get any resources I need for the meeting. I evaluate the time allocated for the meeting and plan my work around this. It is not uncommon for me to have more than 1 meeting per day, but I can also go days without a meeting too.I take regular breaks, usually every hour to move around and stretch so that I don't get tired or stiff. I also have a 45 minute lunch break from 12:30pm until 01:15pm. During this time I eat, catch-up with my friends, and even make new friends from other departments. The main portion of my day is to design machines, so I spend a lot of my time at my desk. I sit in an open plan office, so there are a lot of people based in the office I work in. My job involves using Computer Aided Design (CAD) Software, so I can do both 3D and 2D designs and drawings using my computer. When I do this work I usually speak to my colleagues throughout the day, asking questions and advice. I often have to spend some time researching information as well, and looking through historical documents to find out what I need. There are different opportunities I get at work, so I can be involved with big projects or smaller projects. Each machine I design is a small project of which I am responsible for so I can manage, design and control the progress of that project. I treat this as a small project because a customer has ordered this machine and it is important that I give the customer what they have asked for, and this can be very different from customer to customer. I am also involved in our Continuous Improvement team, which is a team who look around the business for different things to be improved and this can be anything at all - there are no real limits with what we can improve. This is something I do in addition to my normal job role, but something I really enjoy being a part of. In this team I can share my knowledge and experiences from design, but also improve my own problem solving, communication and networking skills. "

"My qualifications post-GCSE have been listed below, starting with the most recent (Qualification;Date Achieved;Grade;Training Facility/School):City and Guilds Introduction to Pneumatics; September 2019; Pass; Festo (Northampton)BTEC Level 4 HNC Diploma in Mechanical Engineering; July 2019; Distinction; EEF Technology CentreSolidWorks Mechanical Design Associate Level; November 2018; Pass; Solid SolutionsNVQ Level 2 PEO; September 2018; Pass; EEF Technology CentreBTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Engineering; July 2017; Distinction*; EEF Technology CentreEAL Functional Skills Qualification in Information and Communication Technology at Level 2; February 2017; Pass; EEF Technology CentreAdvanced GCE Geography; June 2016; C; Fairfax SchoolAdvanced GCE Mathematics; June 2016; E; Fairfax SchoolAdvanced Subsidiary GCE Geography; June 2015; C; Fairfax SchoolAdvanced Subsidiary GCE Mathematics; June 2015; D; Fairfax SchoolAdvanced Subsidiary GCE General Studies; June 2015; E; Fairfax School"