Kate Appleyard: Jaguar Land Rover graduate
graduate engineer (automotive)
Employer: Jaguar Land Rover
Qualifications: MEng mechanical engineering, University of Warwick, 2008
I always wanted to work in the automotive industry and was attracted by the idea of working for a large organisation where I would be able to experience different areas of the business. I completed an online application form and numerical and verbal reasoning tests before being invited to attend the company's assessment centre.
Learning about different vehicle systems
I work in a busy office, typically from 7.30 am until 4.45 pm Monday to Thursday and 8.00 am until 1.00 pm on Fridays. As part of the graduate scheme I am expected to travel to different sites in order to complete training. Ultimately I will work in the suspension system tuning design team but during my first months at work I learned about the different systems on our vehicles as part of the graduate programme. I have been on placement in chassis electronics and in a manufacturing-based office in order to understand the impact of the design team’s decisions on other areas of the business.
Making a design change
One key project I've been involved in since starting was an ongoing investigation into a quality issue on a particular vehicle. This involved making changes to the vehicle, assessing it to gauge if there had been any improvement, and making a design change as a result. Once the design change had been agreed, I was the engineer responsible for putting it into production. This involved liaising with the design and development, logistics, purchasing and manufacturing teams, as well as our supplier, in order to introduce the new parts into production as quickly and smoothly as possible. As well as this project I have also completed a number of smaller design studies since I joined.
A week in the Lake District
I have attended a number of training sessions on the different processes and computer programs that the company uses. As part of the graduate scheme I participated in a personal development programme, which involved spending a week in the Lake District with the other graduates. I also attend seminars to keep up to date with the latest technologies that I need to know about.