Westlakes Engineering has launched a new Work Experience programme for 2019.

The company founded in 2004 and based at Westlakes Science Park in Whitehaven, has grown quickly and now operates in five continents.

Emma Edgar, Training Coordinator for Westlakes Engineering, said: “In recent years we have seen the number of requests for work experience placements reach an all-time high. With so many students applying for a placement, it was a challenge to know who to offer a placement to and who would lose out. We wanted to make sure too that the students who were joining us for the week were really interested in Engineering and would make the most of their time with us.

"To this end, we have now formed a Work Experience Committee who take responsibility for interviewing and choosing the best students to come and complete their Work Experience with Westlakes Engineering. We are company known for our high-quality service and we want high quality students to match.”

Students interested in attending a work experience week with Westlakes Engineering are initially asked to complete an application form. Following this, the student may be asked to attend a short interview. If the interview is successful then the student will be invited to attend a work experience week with Westlakes.

Ms Edgar added: “Such a rigorous programme offers students an experience similar to that of applying for a job role. We have had great feedback from the students who have already completed applications and attended interviews with us. The interview experience especially is really valuable and can help students hone their interviewing technique, even if they are not then offered a work experience placement. The new scheme ensures that only the best students are offered a placement with us. The next steps are to roll out the new scheme across our other offices in Preston and Manchester also.”

The five-day programme currently takes place at Westlakes’ Head Office on the Westlakes Science and Technology Park in Whitehaven and is designed for students between Year 10 and Year 13 (aged 14 to 18). The week comprises a variety of activities including design, 3D Modelling, engineering calculations, project management tasks and culminates in the student delivering a presentation to Westlakes employees.

Throughout the week the student is encouraged to compile a portfolio documenting their experience which they can then take away with them. Westlakes engineers and technicians can discuss future career path options and relate their own personal experiences of how they entered the world of engineering with the student at the end of the week.

Upon completion of the week’s activities, students will be presented with a nationally recognised Industrial Cadets Silver graduation certificate and will be able to register onto the Industrial Cadets Network for future career opportunities and more.

Westlakes has in recent years been recognised nationally through different awards. These include Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster’s ‘Small Business of the Year’, CN Group’s ‘Training and Development Award’ and ‘Small Business of the Year’ and NCE’s (New Civil Engineer) ‘SME of the Year’. For two years running Westlakes Engineering were shortlisted in the ‘Talent Champion’ category of the NCE100 awards, an award that recognises firms taking an enlightened approach toward employee recruitment and retention, and who value professional engineers and seek to develop them.

If any student would like to apply for a place on the Westlakes Engineering Work Experience programme, email enquiries@westlakes.co.uk along with a copy of their CV.

For more information about the Industrial Cadets scheme, see https://www.industrialcadets.org.uk/

For more information about Westlakes Engineering, see https://www.westlakes.co.uk/