Supporting Young People

As a company, JCW welcomes the family of staff who request work experience opportunities. We believe that the community benefits as a whole when we commit to supporting young people’s professional development, as this helps build a skilled workforce for the future, boosts morale, and therefore our social responsibility. Since our last blog on work experience week, we had the pleasure of hosting another, this time it was Joseph, son of Northern HVAC Engineer Supervisor, Richard.

Where it all began 

It all began when Bridlington School, where Joseph is currently studying his GCSEs, set up a workplace event, where pupils were encouraged to select companies of choice, for their work experience. Joseph wanted to gain knowledge and understanding of the engineering environment as a workplace, and Dad Richard is a highly experienced and senior member of a national engineering service provider, this was the perfect opportunity.

Joseph is currently completing his GCSEs in year 10, and hoping to gain grades of 7+ in all subjects, which consists of Maths, English, Triple Science, History, Engineering and Geography.

We asked Joseph if he could see himself as an engineer, he responded:

“After I complete my GCSEs and A levels, I would like to either enter the workplace on an apprenticeship program within engineering or go to university to gain a degree.”

Planning the agenda for the week

Before starting the work week Joseph received:

• An induction as per the company’s health and safety policy.

• Issued with company work wear and PPE.

• Toolbox Talks to ensure he understands the site’s rules and is always working safely.

Richard’s tip for new engineers

As an engineer, you will make mistakes, and you will fail. Mistakes are part of the process, particularly if you work with cutting edge technologies, processes, or systems. You should use these situations as an opportunity to learn, develop, and improve.

Richard commented about the planning for the week:

“An in-depth week was planned to show various levels of engineering within the HVAC trade, from PPM maintenances to investigation work at the Grand Opera House in York on the AHU’s and extraction systems. A compressor change, and a pressure test on a Mitsubishi City Multi System at Next and finally, carrying out pressure test and repair, setting up an inverter control system on a large Daikin package unit to ensure the unit operates correctly.”

We caught up with Joseph after the week and asked:

What did you enjoy most about your work experience week?

“It was a very enjoyable week and I gained new skills and experiences within the HVAC trade. Being issued uniform, an ID card set me up ready for the upcoming week and made me feel like part of the JCW team. I got to carry out some PPM maintenance on day one. Moving onto an in-depth site survey on the York Grand Theatre to renew or repair two very old air handling units. Wednesday was my favourite day as I got to try brazing and help renew a compressor on a Mitsubishi Air Conditioning unit. My final two days, we carried out repairs to a very large package air conditioning unit and had many technical challenges. I enjoyed the technical side of the job and being part of a team with other JCW engineers. It was great to spend a week with my Dad seeing what he does each day.”

Did the experience meet your expectations?

“Yes, it exceeded my expectations as I learnt to understand the daily lives of engineers and the challenges they face whilst on site. I also managed to learn how difficult working as an engineer can be with environmental issues and the technical struggles they face.”

Were there any challenges or obstacles you encountered during your work experience week? How did you overcome them?

“We had extremely poor weather, JCW provided PPE/Uniform which was enough layers to keep warm whilst working outside. We also used tarpaulin to cover the compound to keep the wind and rain out to allow us to keep working. Some of the units/kit was very tired and old, circa 1989, which made the job difficult to take parts off and fix, some items are now obsolete, but we overcame these obstacles by preserving using general engineering skills, such as heat to loosen parts and exchanging parts between units to fix as much as possible.  We managed to get the job done.”

What new skills or knowledge did you gain during your work experience week? How will you apply these to your future education or career goals?

“I got a basic understanding of how Air Conditioning works and the BMS system in Next, I got to try brazing some pipe work on a compressor which held pressure when we tested it. I hope to use these skills in my engineering and science subjects at school, with an ambition to go into an engineering field once I’ve finished my GCSE’s.”

Did the experience confirm or change your career aspirations? Why?

“I had a great week and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I particularly enjoyed the BMS work. I will concentrate on my GCSE’s with a hope to going on to my A-levels with the ambition to become a technical engineer in the future. I am very grateful for the opportunity JCW have given me.”

Richard added:

“The British weather wasn’t kind and made the week quite difficult due to the rain and wind, I had to explain that we must persevere to get the job done for the customer. I tried to show and teach as much as possible within the week to try give him a better understanding of what is it like to be an engineer within JCW. He picked up brazing very well and I allow him to carry out a small braze on a small condensing unit under some strict supervision! After checking his braze we carried out a pressure test as per the fgas reg which held perfect. I hope he can take away the new skills and information he has gained and decide what role he would like to take in the future after his A levels.

“Overall, it was an extremely enjoyable and challenging week to spend time with my son. I would like to thank JCW in giving the opportunity to my son and allowing him to see first hand the diverse roles we carry out as a company.”

Bright Future for Everyone

At JCW, we believe in nurturing young talent and providing them with opportunities to explore their interests. By fostering a supportive environment where young people can learn from experienced professionals like Richard, we are paving the way for a new generation of engineers who will shape the world with their own brilliance.

If you are interested in a career in engineering, administration, management or finance. We have an office location near you: in Bristol, Cardiff, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Ipswich and Leicester. Get in touch to learn more about our current opportunities.