Tomorrow’s generation of engineers are already learning on the job thanks to a pioneering project in a Winchester nursery. Yes, a nursery!
With hands no bigger than Donald Trump’s, preschool kids at West Downs Day Nursery are learning how to engineer and build their own ‘race car’.
This has meant researching how different parts work, such as a chassis, steering, brakes and wheel tracking before fitting them all together.
The teeny tots have even done their own risk assessment and are keeping a journal to record progress.
It shows the kind of passion, determination and eye for detail all great engineers must have.
If you’re interested in starting your own career in Engineering with a top role from s1jobs, even though you’re probably too old for nursery learning will always be a continuous process.
But as well as maths, physics and IT, there are four important lessons you need to understand to get you started.
Always read the manual
When dealing with flat-packed furniture, it’s tempting to jump right in with an allen key. In engineering, however, there’s more at stake than a shoogly bookshelf. Whether structural or civil, mechanical or electrical, your engineering job will require specialist knowledge: so read the textbooks, watch the training videos and listen to the advice of experienced co-workers.
Nurture your creativity
Innovation is at the heart of engineering and finding new ways of doing things will be your best asset. If necessity is the mother of invention, make it a necessity for you to seek out elements of engineering you don’t yet understand. Making such connections is a great way to boost creativity.
Ask questions all the time
Well, maybe not all the time – certainly not during the season finale of Broadchurch. But asking why things work the way they do or why processes have been set up as they are deepens your knowledge. It also makes you keen to find new and better ways of achieving goals. And this makes you invaluable to the company and a prime candidate to rise through the ranks to project manager.
Don’t be afraid of mistakes
It’s only by making a wee boo boo now and then that you avoid making a big bad blunder later in your career. Mistakes are life’s greatest teachers but only by accepting feedback as constructive criticism, do we avoid repeating errors. Listen and learn from everyone around you. They’ve been there before and, even if it doesn’t always sound like it, they’re actually helping you.
Put your four lessons to good use with a new Engineering role from s1jobs.