Richard Perkins – Experience at Jesmond Engineering Limited

In July 2014, Richard graduated from the University of Hull with a 2:1 in Mechanical Engineering BEng (hons). Since then, he has been working for a local engineering consultancy that performs advanced structural analysis primarily in the aerospace industry, as well as in other areas such as missile development, and renewable energy. Richard discusses how he was able to progress into a role soon after graduating and outlines his experience so far. 

How I heard about Jesmond

“The university had invited a number of local businesses to attend and advertise their company to the job-seeking students. It was here I met with the managing director of Jesmond Engineering Ltd.”

In January 2014, around the time when final year students are urgently looking for graduate schemes and jobs, I was at a poster presentation on campus as part of my final year project. The university had invited a number of local businesses to attend and advertise their company to the job-seeking students. It was here I met with the managing director of Jesmond Engineering Ltd. and a graduate employee who had joined the company that year. After they told me a bit about what Jesmond does, I was very interested in the type of work and decided to apply to them.

Getting the job

I sent in a covering letter and my CV and was promptly invited to an interview a couple of weeks later. At the interview I was instantly made to feel at ease with the managing director and the other man present. It was fairly informal and they asked questions about my time at university, my hobbies and interests etc. as well as some engineering related questions. As I have never had a proper interview for a job before, I was quite relieved by their friendly manner. A few days later I was contacted again with the offer of a job and we arranged a start date that suited both me and the company.

Starting work

At the beginning of July (2014), I started my job at the company. From day one I was properly involved with the work Jesmond does, and began working on a project for Airbus and their A350 plane. I started by working closely with one particular employee who showed me the ropes, and set me tasks to perform by myself. He was available every time I had a query and kept me constantly busy and learning new stuff. This type of teaching has proven to be very effective as there is a lot of new and unfamiliar software to learn.

“The office is a very friendly environment, and everyone has made me feel welcome. I can ask anyone for help regarding the work…”

The first couple of months have allowed me to gain experience with fatigue, damage tolerance and static analysis as well as allowing me to build on my skills and knowledge learnt in my degree. I have really enjoyed working on this project, and learning about the kind of testing and simulating every single component needs to go through before an aircraft can be rolled out.

My initial impressions of the company have been very positive indeed. The office is a very friendly environment, and everyone has made me feel welcome. I can ask anyone for help regarding the work and they are always happy to point me in the right direction. I have also found the amount of responsibility that is required of me to be a real incentive to achieve, as well as keeping the work interesting. I’ve been very pleased with my first few weeks and am excited about my future within the company.

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