Chloe James

"My personality types were: explorer, investigator and quality controller. These match me so well. As an ILS engineer, I spend a lot of time investigating data, finding information and then making sure it's accurate and correct. It's almost like solving a giant jigsaw puzzle which matches with the explorer personality type. My role requires me to follow logical processes and procedures to collecting the information I need and I have to work with lots of different colleagues from different departments, which are some of the skills needed as an investigator personality type! Quality control is a really important part of my role, as we have to make sure the data and information we provide is correct, to keep people on board the ship safe. If things go wrong when people are out at sea, they can be miles away from other people, so we need to make sure we get it correct first time!"

"I work as an Integrated Logistics Support Engineer on the Type 45 Warship programme, specialising in Data Integration. In my role, I work with lots of data and numbers, which are all assigned to different bits of the ship. My job is to analyse this data and make sure it is configured correctly and is accurate before being loaded onto the ship. This is an important step in the engineering life cycle as it means the ship will be supported successfully when it is out sailing! Safety is one of the most important things in my role, as the data we provide helps the crew on board to do their jobs effectively. The thing I enjoy the most about my job is working with lots of different people on really exciting projects. I'm currently working with a small team of engineers, but often have to speak to other people in my bigger team, or even at different sites. I think that makes every day different, as you talk to so many different people.The starting salary for my role can depend, based on your experience. Generally speaking, it can be anywhere from £30,000 - £40,000, but if you're a manager it can be a lot more!"

"I started my GCSE's wanting to be a Plant Botanist or an Astronaut. I soon found out I couldn't be an Astronaut as I suffered from motion sickness (not ideal in a rocket!), and I finished my GCSE's not really enjoying Biology. It was only when I joined the Air Cadets at the age of 16 that I thought about a career in engineering. I had lots of really positive role models at the Air Cadets, who would guide me to the right courses and training to ensure I could really consider engineering as an option. Due to this, I ended up taking A Levels in Mathematics, Further Mathematics, German and Physics. Once I finished my A Levels, I went to university to study for a degree in Aeronautical Technology, which is the study of things like aircraft. I really enjoyed this, and found planes really exciting, especially learning how they stay in the sky. I completed a year in industry as part of my degree, where I got to work with a company for a year, on real-life projects. After finishing that year, I knew I definitely wanted to work as an Integrated Logistics Support Engineer, but I had changed my mind again on whether I wanted to work on planes. The pandemic made flight very unstable, and that's when I made the decision to work on Naval Warships instead! I think the best thing about engineering is that your skills are transferable, so you don't have to always stay in the same branch of engineering, if you didn't want to."

"In my spare time, I am super busy (through my own choice though!). I spend a lot of time hiking, and can often be found on top of a hill or mountain, somewhere in Wales or England. I used to travel to foreign countries on my own a lot before the pandemic and will hopefully be able to resume that soon as I love experiencing new places and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. When I'm not on a hill or in the gym, I spend a lot of time volunteering. I'm currently an Air Cadet instructor, where I teach the Duke of Edinburgh Award to young cadets and I'm a STEM Ambassador too, where I speak to young people about how exciting engineering is."

"My day is really flexible, as I'm currently working from home. I start my day at 6 in the morning, and usually have a meeting with my team to discuss the work we've achieved and what we aim to complete for that day. If there's any problems, people tend to discuss those too. Sometimes, it's nice to just have a chat with people! Once I've had this meeting, I tend to check my emails to see if anything was sent from the evening before. Once I've replied to all my emails, I get on with the rest of the day. My team and I are currently working on a large project for the Type 45 Warship, which has deadlines that need to be met. In order to meet these deadlines, we analyse lots of data and correct things that may be wrong. Sometimes, I can be on the phone to people all day, trying to solve the problems I have. Those days are my favourite as I love working with my team to be able to come up with a good solution for the problem we have. Other days, I might not encounter too many problems, and those days are easier as the data is easier to integrate."

"After GCSE, I took A Levels in Maths, Further Maths, German, General Studies and Physics. I actually didn't do as well as I hoped in my A Levels and didn't make it into my first choice of university. Whilst this was disappointing, I worked hard over the summer to try and find a university that was suitable for my grades and what I wanted to do. I enrolled at Staffordshire University and after completing 3 years of degree, and 1 year of industrial placement, I graduated and started in the role I'm in now!"