Vocational Training leads to work at CERN: Fay Chicken, Engineering Apprentice

ATG Apprenticeship’s Fay Chicken has proved that if you’ve got the drive and the determination, Vocational Training can take you however far as you want to go. After completing her AS level qualifications, Fay opted to apply for an apprenticeship position and undertake vocational training.

Fay joined The University of Oxford on an Engineering training scheme. She says “I wanted to get involved in real work and more importantly learn some real life working skills that I could use in my job. I see so many people with engineering/electronic degrees but who are unable to use the equipment – training whilst I am working enables me to put into practice what I have learnt straight away and really apply it in my day to day work”.

In the very male-orientated environment of the engineering field, being the only girl on your course can be a daunting prospect, and although Fay was nervous she says “The ATG Training course tutor has been fantastic and really put my mind at rest – he is very open and transparent making it very easy to ask questions, despite being the only female.”

After completing her apprenticeship, Fay went on to study an HNC & HND in Electrical/electronic and Mechanical Engineering, and in April 2014 started work at her new position with CERN in Geneva, working in the radiation safety office. Fay says that the vocational training that she has completed “puts me in good stead for the future and set up this wonderful opportunity to work alongside some world renowned physicists at CERN.”

So you can see that your Apprenticeship can open up a world of opportunities for you, and with ambition and the right attitude vocational training can really take you however far you want to go!