Putting Engineering Principles into Practice – Konstantinos

Konstantinos is a 2016 Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics Masters graduate from the University of Patras in Greece. He has recently embarked on a permanent role as a Graduate Technical Support Engineer with L.B. Foster Automation.

Eight months ago I was still in the process of writing my dissertation, as part of an integrated 5-year master’s degree course in Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics back, in Greece. If someone had told me then that by the end of the summer I would be working full-time as a Technical Support Engineer for a successful, world-leading industrial automation company in the UK, I would have probably laughed. But that is what happened.

LB-FosterShortly after my graduation, my girlfriend was accepted into Nottingham Trent University for the year 2016/2017. I decided I would join her in the UK and look for a job as an engineer. After countless rejections during the first two months of intense and continuous job-hunting, I felt dejected and even started to doubt myself and my skills.

One day I came across a job advert, posted by Step, for a graduate engineer role in Nottingham. What kept me interested was that it didn’t require any previous experience (other than university gained). The application process was really straightforward, but to be honest I didn’t have high hopes at the time. After a couple of days I got a call from Tamsin at Step, to discuss my application. Of all the recruiters I’d spoke with while looking for a job, Tamsin was the only one that really helped me improve my application by not only giving me the right tips, but also by helping me understand my own limits and strengths.

I was really excited to get an interview, and I thank Tamsin for all the support and help that she offered me, during my preparation for it. I can’t even begin to describe how I felt when I got the job. Six months since graduation and three months after moving from Greece to the UK, I had managed to become a full time Technical Support Engineer with LB Foster, all of which would not have been possible without the help and support of Step and everyone at LB Foster

My role was within the sales team and I immediately began my work on a number of tasks including: helping Sales Engineers prepare technical proposals and quotations, using advanced 3D software for drawing concept designs, travelling to customer sites to assess potential enquiries and meeting with suppliers in order to conduct feasibility testing of their equipment.  Most of the things I did were entirely new to me but the company understood that, and helped me integrate smoothly within the team. My supervisor and colleagues have been nothing but helpful and kind towards me since day one.

I have developed my confidence and demonstrated technical and interpersonal skills I didn’t even know I had! Getting to put engineering principles and design techniques I learnt as an undergrad into practice is one of the most fulfilling things for me. The best thing about my job is that I rarely do the same thing twice. Each job/proposal is different, each concept design is different and most of the time you have to come up with alternative solutions, which of course makes everything all the more exciting and challenging.

Everyone at LB Foster is doing great things, and the working environment is very pleasant. I feel very welcome and very much a part of the team and I really look forward to my future with LB Foster and the exciting challenges that lie ahead.

Thank you Step for making this possible.

Konstantinos

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