Meet The Graduates

I really enjoy working at Cavendish Nuclear, the Commercial team especially; it is quite a big team which is dispersed across all the Cavendish Nuclear offices. We are a close working team and we meet regularly to have overview on what everybody is working on. I have had to move around quite a lot and Cavendish Nuclear have been very supportive. Each office I have relocated to has had a really strong and supportive network of graduates and employees.

The achievement I am most proud of is my secondment to the government in my 3rd year. I worked for the Department of Energy and Climate Change and it is an achievement because it was a new opportunity that hadn’t been available in this business before. An example of a challenge I had to deal with is when I was working on quite a significant bid for Cavendish Nuclear and we were dealing with a US supplier. We were working to very tight deadlines and unfortunately the US supplier hadn’t provided the quotations in time so it was on me, to call him in the middle of the night, on his personal mobile and find out where they were. Luckily I had some prior engagement with him and we had built up a good relationship, and the quotations were sent over quickly.

As a direct result of this secondment I was awarded “Graduate Learner of the Year” by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB). These prestigious awards are a celebration of the achievements and successes of individuals working in the engineering industry. I am incredibly proud that my hard work has been recognised and this is also a real testament to the support I have had during the graduate programme.

When I started at Cavendish Nuclear, at first I was worried that it would be quite male dominated but having been here for 4 years, it isn’t that way at all, it is a very diverse company and diverse industry. I have been to several ‘Women in Nuclear’ events which really do support diversity in the industry. The culture here is people-focused, they are mindful that in order for the business to grow, they need to develop their people and that comes through the graduate scheme.

Before joining here I never thought I would get the opportunity to work in government and be award winning!

I first worked for Cavendish Nuclear over the summer holidays whilst studying at The University of Sheffield. I was accepted onto their undergraduate programme and spent several weeks getting involved in engineering tasks ranging from CAD to practical work in radiologically controlled areas. There was also a chance to visit another office where we had talks on the nuclear engineering sector, and about how the company operates. Whilst there, I met the other summer interns and graduates from the year above, which was a great chance to find out about working life at the company.

The internship was a rewarding experience, culminating in me being fast tracked through the graduate recruitment process in my final week – i.e. skipping the assessment centre – and leaving with a job offer!

I returned to university for my final year without the worry of job-hunting, and was even invited to join Cavendish’s stand when they came to Sheffield’s Engineering Careers Fair. It was strange to be on “the employers’ side” of a careers fair whilst my friends were on the other, but great to already be treated as part of the company!

I graduated in June with a 2:1 MEng degree in Mechanical Engineering and in September I joined the Cavendish Nuclear Graduate Programme.

Since starting, I’ve been given a lot of support to help me settle in and begin progressing towards my long term goal of chartership. The buddy system, which pairs up new graduates with people from the year above, was an excellent way to get to know people in the office, and begins long before you arrive. I was put in contact with my buddy around February, so I had several months to ask questions about starting work and get them answered in plenty of time. I was also invited by my buddy to have a look round the office where I would be working, and meet the other Leicester graduates a few weeks before starting.

The graduate programme revolves around having 3-month placements in different departments – where you want to work is up to you! So far I have worked for a team that designs tools to inspect the cores of nuclear reactors, a team focused on decommissioning, and a commercial team in charge of acquiring equipment for project work. I’m also planning to work on-site at a power station next year.

Each placement has been different and helped me develop different skill areas, something which is very helpful for working towards chartership.

My advice to new graduates is to be as proactive as you can and jump at any opportunity that presents itself! There’s a lot you can accomplish here if you put yourself out there