🕒 Article read time: 2 minutes
Generation Logistics Case Study
Charles Graves, Software/Firmware Engineer – Unipart.
The Generation Logistics campaign shines a light on young people who will make up the workforce of tomorrow, and uses their experiences to encourage others to consider a career in our sector. For more information, please visit www.generationlogistics.org
Over to you, Charles...
My key responsibilities have been to document my working following specific rail standards and ensuring that my work is checked by people more experienced than me, using their knowledge and experience to learn.
I was attracted to the graduate programme at Unipart because of the extensive reach that Unipart has, both in the UK and worldwide. Working for a company of this scale has given me plenty of insight into how a business should be run efficiently and effectively.
The other engineers have impressed me with their knowledge and challenging questions they ask when I am justifying my way of thinking and working. Each of us specialises in certain areas and I can use my knowledge in meetings to give different views and aspects to create a project pipeline.
Being able to be in meetings for upcoming projects has given me lots of inspiring experience in showcasing how a perfect meeting should go, keeping on topic and clearly outlining goals and expectations.
Since joining the programme, I have developed skills like networking and configuring these connections into subnets for my project of Signal Strength Testing. Alongside the experience I have gained using the Python programme, I have experienced a code review to give me ways of analysing my code for decisions that I have while programming, justifying each line of code on a very granular level.
I believe my thinking out of the box has improved from this placement, giving suggestions on how the business overall can improve but also the software department such as suggesting different programme extensions that we are now using in our workplace.
I have received plenty of support and help with my projects. My colleagues have all been comforting and understanding and are able to help me with their repertoire of knowledge.
We have an Early Careers Manager who has been wonderful at taking care of us all. They provide a schedule and keep me relaxed whenever we have an offsite visit and training session. Being able to have someone I can email who is out of my immediate team, should I have a query, has made things easier; just having that contact in the beginning especially, was very important for me.
I would say to anyone looking to join the logistics sector that communication is always key. Talking to people whenever the opportunity arises, even as daunting as it may be, is useful for growth. Everyone has always been warm and welcoming, keeping me very relaxed.
Another piece of advice is to follow the resilience training you are offered and always remember that resilience, whenever you are struggling or finding it hard. It has been extremely helpful for me while working, whether I’ve been finding work too much, or out of work experiences too much to handle, it’s helped me keep a level head and retain my ability to focus and apply myself.
PLEASE NOTE: This year’s Generation Logistics Week will take place from 23-27 June – a series of inspiring free virtual events, presented in partnership with STEM Learning, to unlock the best career paths in the logistics sector for young people, all in just five days. Across the week there will be daily themes exploring key areas in this world full of career possibilities, potential and pathways.
Each day will feature overviews, presentations, vidcasts from some of the world’s biggest employers; case studies and career journeys from hidden heroes in the logistics world; highlight resources for various ages and subject interests.
If you know any teachers or educators who would be interested in getting involved with this year’s Week, please encourage them to register their interest at the Generation Logistics Eventbrite page –bit.ly/4iYheKz or visit the campaign’s Education Hub to discover lesson plans, curriculum-linked activities and so much more! https://educationhub.generationlogistics.org/
Published On: 01/05/2025 14:28:36
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