John Williams CO95 Talks Engineering

Old Truronian John visited the 4^th Year students on Friday 14 October to deliver a career talk about engineering with Head of Careers Nancy Kenward.

John attended Truro School between 1988-1995 and studied A Levels in Maths, Physics and DT before being accepted to the University of Bristol for BEng in Mechanical Engineering. John explained that when he was at School, he remembered exploring which university to attend but there were only 8 universities at that time in the mid-90’s that offered accredited engineering degrees. John said he really wanted to attend the University of Swansea, but a tutor there remarked that he would do really well at Bath or Bristol – which were and still are part of the leading engineering universities in the UK. He discussed the various types of engineering careers available to budding students now, such as aerospace/avionic, space, chemical, electrical engineering, among many more.

John took time to emphasise that whilst an engineering degree can help students get their foot in the door to employment, a degree does tend to mean less and less the further into your career you get. “When I was at Bristol I completed a BEng with an additional master’s degree straight after so did 4 years. I would say it can help open doors initially but as your career progresses it does become less and less important.”

After Bristol, John returned to Cornwall where he has managed to stay for his whole career now, in various engineering jobs in and around Falmouth. His career has enabled him to work across the engineering sector and allowed him to travel to places such as New Zealand, Sumatra and Finland. He currently works for Nijhuis Saur Industries as Engineering Manager. This leadership role means that John directs and delivers design activities, and approves project designs and proposals. Previously he worked at nmcn in St Austell as Business Development Manager.

John’s advice: “Always keep your network. You never know when a contact could be the key to new employment.”