Graduate: Harry
Since leaving UoB...
I joined the Royal Navy 3 months after graduating having completed the application process during my final year. I decided to join the MoD having enjoyed my time in the OTC (Officer Training Corps) and I felt the RN offered the best job for my discipline.
While I have no fixed plan in the RN, the limited length of assignments (normally 2yrs) means that work is variable and there is little time to get bored.
In my current job...
I currently work in support of Merlin Mk1 helicopter operations throughout the world. I form a part of a team which acts as an operational/engineering/logistical focal point to ensure all aircraft and units are fully supported in whatever they may be doing. While UK based, the job has huge variety as you'll never know what is about to meet you when you get in the office. One day you'll be helping source parts to an aircraft in the Middle East, the next you'll be delivering technical support to another in the Caribbean. All very stimulating.
Being in a young work force means you are usually part of a dynamic team with many like-minded others. Mess life is great and you make some fantastic friends.
Having a UoB degree...
My degree was a prerequisite for entry to the Royal Navy in my particular branch. While, in reality, the specifics have been of little use, the general understanding has been fundamental to my daily work assessing the impact of damage and modifications to the way an aircraft flies and is operated. Moreover, the work ethic and analytical approach I developed through completing an engineering degree has been essential.
Hints/tips...
You make your own luck to a large degree - pick out what you want and go for it. Don't expect it all to go well; take the rough with the smooth. Be clear and concise, work to foster and maintain personal relationships, even if you may not like some people, you still have to work with them! The more you put in, the more you get out.
This case study has been published with the kind permission of the interviewee.
