Hannah Magowan is one of the top three advanced apprentices in the country, having recently been highly commended at the National Apprenticeship Service Awards.
I knew from school that my strengths were in Maths, Science and Computing and these were the subjects I enjoyed. However, we never received any careers advice and I wasn’t aware of what jobs and industries were available in my local area.
We received advice mainly on the next educational steps from school. In these sessions they never recommended apprenticeships, they always pushed A-levels and University.
Since starting my apprenticeship at Dale Power Solutions three years ago I have spent my time rotating each department spending roughly between 6 and 8 months in each. I have worked in Commercial UPS, Panel Wire, Design, Development and Test. Through this rotation I have gained a lot of knowledge on our product and how the company works.
I have now returned to a permanent role in Development where I will remain alongside completing a higher apprenticeship. My job involves helping with the development of PCB’s and software used in our products.
Schools always pushed A-levels and University, not apprenticeships”
I have learnt practical skills allowing me to build and wire our products. I have learnt how to use our electrical and mechanical design software, and how to create standard schematics and mechanical layout drawings.
I have learnt how to safely test our products and have also completed a development project where I researched, designed, built and tested a digital solution to our current VDVD board.
Through an apprenticeship you are gaining valuable work experience and knowledge while continuing to learn and be paid. This means that when you finish you are a well-rounded worker with the relevant industry qualifications and no university debt.