Abbey Grange C of E Academy in Leeds played host to the Let’s Talk Manufacturing Live Careers Panel in March, giving 500 students the chance to fire questions at a panel of manufacturing professionals - and discover more about the diverse careers and opportunities on offer in the industry.

Taking the questions were Kirkstall Precision Engineering apprentice Cameron Pinder; James Marr, logistics team leader at fibre glass manufacturer MPM; Stephanie Plazzi from specialist manufacturing and engineering recruiter E3 Recruitment; Tom Hudson, graduate trainee in tendering at Schneider Electric and Andy Boucher, lead category manager for Arla Foods.

No topics were off limits as students quizzed the panel members on a everything from, “how much do you get paid?”, to “what are the best GCSEs to do?”, receiving candid responses to every question.

Apprenticeships, a zero-debt school to work transition

Apprentice Cameron Pinder, whose firm Kirkstall Precision Engineering specialises in making life-saving medical implements and has been named as one of the UK’s best engineering apprenticeship employers, gave the students a valuable insider’s view of apprenticeships.

“With an apprenticeship, a company will train you to fit one of their roles while also sending you to college, even up to degree or masters level,” explained Cameron. “You have zero debt and are well paid throughout an apprenticeship. You also gain loads of experience that, often, someone coming into the industry straight from university does not have. So if you’re looking to earn and study, and even progress in the company, apprenticeships are a really good route.”

He added: “The leap from school to full-time work is huge so apprenticeships are also good in that they enable you to transition more gradually. You’ll start off working something like two days a week, with the other days spent in college, and then build that up.

“Work is such a big change and apprenticeships really do blend study and work. The good employers also have an appreciation that you are coming to the role straight from school and help you to develop your skills and to grow as a person.”

Diverse, well-paid roles

On the question of pay in manufacturing, Stephanie Plazzi from E3 Recruitment said: “Sectors like aerospace and the chemical industry are the highest payers and will offer the best paying apprenticeships too. And in general, salaries in manufacturing and engineering are quite a bit higher than average and there are also always jobs and opportunities right across the board for a really wide range of roles.”

She added: “It depends on you, and what skills you want to develop. Whatever role you are interested in, you will be able to do that within manufacturing because of the huge number of different jobs that make up a successful manufacturing firm – from hands-on engineering to design, marketing HR or logistics, and many more.”

Andy Boucher from Arla Foods agreed. “In a big global company like Arla Foods the opportunities are endless and there is also the chance to travel overseas, whether as part of your role in the UK, or being based permanently in a different country."

Digital skills for the future

Sustainability and digitalisation have become watchwords in manufacturing as firms strive to automate and work towards net zero carbon emissions. The process is creating even more new opportunities for young people entering the industry.

“Digital skills are really important now,” said Tom Hudson from Schneider Electric. “We use so much technology in manufacturing and people with skills focused on coding or AI are very much in demand, to enable us to manage and develop that automation.”

Andy Boucher added: “A few years ago digitalisation wasn’t a feature at all at Arla but now we have a team of 35 people dedicated to it so that shows the growth in opportunities in that area.”

The path to net zero

He said: “Sustainability is also at the forefront of everything we do now and Arla have pledged to reach net zero by 2050. That includes everything from using recyclable packaging to working with Asda to improve sustainability and increasing the number of organic products.

“Manufacturing is one of the frontrunners in the fight against climate change and it’s a great industry to work in if you are interested in working in a job that really makes a difference in promoting sustainability.”

Compere Faron Convey, project manager at Ahead Partnership, which organised the event, said the students had found the live event really helpful.

“From our feedback forms, the students who attended the event said that it had really improved their understanding of what manufacturing was, made them aware of the variety of roles within the industry and helped them to understand how to get into different careers or jobs,” said Faron.

“We were really pleased to find that almost 70% of the students said they would now think about pursuing a career in manufacturing and, as one student said to us afterwards, ‘it was a great insight into manufacturing’. So, a really useful event and thanks to everyone on the panel for taking the time out to offer such invaluable first-hand advice to the students.”

To watch the live careers panel, click HERE