{"id":1105,"date":"2021-04-26T09:09:52","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T09:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/?p=1105"},"modified":"2021-05-04T08:26:28","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T08:26:28","slug":"chris-bird-mechanical-engineering-apprentice-technician-human-resources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/2021\/04\/26\/chris-bird-mechanical-engineering-apprentice-technician-human-resources\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Bird, Mechanical Engineering Apprentice Technician, Human Resources"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/files\/2021\/04\/88EEE170-2774-4D85-9D40-C7777EF5FDE6-1024x512.jpeg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/h3>\n<h3><strong>\u201cI liked the idea of learning on the job while earning a wage and working towards qualifications.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I am a mechanical engineering technician apprentice currently working in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imperial.ac.uk\/civil-engineering\">Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering<\/a>. I work in each department on a six-month rotation, which allows me to work on different projects and learn from different people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I really enjoy using different types of tools and machinery as they allow me to create parts from metal bar\/round stock into something useable. One of the tools I use is a micrometer \u2013 this is a precise measuring instrument that ensures that a component is produced to the required size.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I work with students and staff to produce the components they need to complete their projects and experiments and attend college on a day release to complete a Higher National Diploma in general engineering.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In school, I went straight from GCSEs into sixth form so that I could keep my options open. After my AS levels, I decided I wanted to pursue a career in engineering. I started a Level 3 extended diploma in mechanical engineering which gave me my first taste of machining and opened me up to a career I hadn\u2019t thought about. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I decided to look for an apprenticeship as I enjoyed working with my hands, and liked the idea of learning on the job while earning a wage and working towards qualifications. I found out about the Imperial scheme because someone on my course had just completed a technician apprenticeship at another university.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">COVID-19 put my job on hold as you can\u2019t operate machinery remotely. My college lessons moved online, which was a bit of a challenge at first, but we got there in the end! Having returned to campus, I\u2019ve found it very different as it\u2019s so much quieter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Outside work, I enjoy working on cars, going on the odd bike ride, and camping. In August last year, I visited the Lake District and stayed on a campsite in a valley, which was a stunning view to wake up to each morning.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI liked the idea of learning on the job while earning a wage and working towards qualifications.\u201d I am a mechanical engineering technician apprentice currently working in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. I work in each department on a six-month rotation, which allows me to work on different projects and learn from different [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1554,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[288073],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-support-staff"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chris Bird, Mechanical Engineering Apprentice Technician, Human Resources - Imperial people<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/2021\/04\/26\/chris-bird-mechanical-engineering-apprentice-technician-human-resources\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chris Bird, Mechanical Engineering Apprentice Technician, Human Resources - Imperial people\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cI liked the idea of learning on the job while earning a wage and working towards qualifications.\u201d I am a mechanical engineering technician apprentice currently working in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. I work in each department on a six-month rotation, which allows me to work on different projects and learn from different [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/2021\/04\/26\/chris-bird-mechanical-engineering-apprentice-technician-human-resources\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Imperial people\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-26T09:09:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-04T08:26:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/files\/2021\/04\/88EEE170-2774-4D85-9D40-C7777EF5FDE6-1024x512.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sarah Saxton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarah Saxton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-people\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/26\\\/chris-bird-mechanical-engineering-apprentice-technician-human-resources\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-people\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/26\\\/chris-bird-mechanical-engineering-apprentice-technician-human-resources\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sarah Saxton\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-people\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/183d9361de247090456d0fe6f63358c5\"},\"headline\":\"Chris Bird, Mechanical Engineering Apprentice Technician, Human Resources\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-26T09:09:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-04T08:26:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-people\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/26\\\/chris-bird-mechanical-engineering-apprentice-technician-human-resources\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":355,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-people\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/26\\\/chris-bird-mechanical-engineering-apprentice-technician-human-resources\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-people\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/88EEE170-2774-4D85-9D40-C7777EF5FDE6-1024x512.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Professional staff\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-people\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/26\\\/chris-bird-mechanical-engineering-apprentice-technician-human-resources\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-people\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/26\\\/chris-bird-mechanical-engineering-apprentice-technician-human-resources\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/imperial-people\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/26\\\/chris-bird-mechanical-engineering-apprentice-technician-human-resources\\\/\",\"name\":\"Chris Bird, Mechanical Engineering Apprentice Technician, Human Resources - 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