Two aspiring female engineers at the North East’s largest bus company are hoping to inspire other women to follow in their footsteps, as part of ‘Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day’ (20 February).
Melissa Millington and Maisie Hatch, two of Go North East’s finest engineering apprentices, are sharing their experiences of their jobs to encourage other females to consider a career in engineering. And with eight engineering apprenticeships soon to be available, now is a great time to look at what this career path can offer.
The rising stars are undertaking training and development, in a four-year programme that Go North East runs, in partnership with Gateshead College.
Apprentices learn on-the-job with help from the bus company’s expert teams, whilst also spending one day a week training at Gateshead College.
Melissa, from Chester-le-Street, is in the second year of her apprenticeship, having joined Go North East in 2018.
Commenting on her role the 20-year-old, said: “I’m proud to be a female engineering apprentice and love working for Go North East.
“I applied for this position because I was always intrigued by practical work like woodwork and art and design at school because I’m dyslexic and couldn’t sit around for a long period of time in a classroom without getting distracted by something else.
“By being in this role it lets me focus and learn new skills that I didn’t know I would need as well as being part of a team that is working towards a common goal of providing the public a better service of transport.
“I’d be delighted if I could inspire anyone to consider engineering as a career.”
Maisie is someone that has followed in Melissa’s footsteps, having joined the bus company a year later.
“There’s no doubt that some days are challenging but each day is extremely rewarding,” the 16-year-old from South Shields explains.
“I’ve loved every minute of my experience so far and I can’t recommend the apprenticeship scheme at Go North East enough.”
Go North East will be looking to recruit another eight apprentices from May, with a start date of September 2020.