To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week we caught up with Neville Holland, Group Engineering Manager who has worked his way up in his career and leads the engineering team at Moy Park. He now tells us about his career to date and what its like to be an apprentice with Moy Park:
Tell us about yourself and your role as Group Engineering Manager at Moy Park?
I started my journey with Moy Park back in 1997 as a placement student and since then I’ve progressed to Group Engineering Manager for our Fresh Business Unit, leading a dedicated group of engineers. I’ve had many roles throughout my time at Moy Park so for anyone considering applying, the opportunities for career development are endless.
In particular, apprenticeships are a great way to start building the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to become successful engineer and a great way to kickstart your career.
What are the benefits of applying for an engineering apprenticeship at Moy Park?
We have partnered with some key providers across our NI and GB sites to specifically tailor the programmes we offer to ensure our apprentices are confident and competent in their day-to-day roles.
As an apprentice, you will have an assigned mentor who will encourage you every step of the way, a dedicated manager who will guide you through good practices, support and guidance from HR at site and the Early Careers team to ensure your experience is an enjoyable one.
I always describe engineering as a vocation and by that, I mean it’s a career for life; the world will always need engineers. As an apprentice you will be exposed to state-of-the-art equipment at our Moy Park sites. For us to continue to grow as a business and become the best and most respected in our industry it’s really important that we attract, train and skill our apprentices. We offer a competitive rate of pay, with a salary for a trained multi-skilled engineer starting at £45,000.
What does a typical day look like for an engineering apprentice?
Working within the food and drink industry is an exciting place to be and as an apprentice you will work with mechanical and electrical equipment including highly automated systems. No two days are the same in engineering, whether you’re an Apprentice, Project Engineer, or Engineering Manager!
Once you arrive at work, tasks can include anything from carrying out both electrical and mechanical work such as planned maintenance activities, reacting to breakdowns, eliminating the root cause of problems, and working on continuous improvement projects.
What advice would you give young person interested in engineering?
The first piece of advice I would give is to start by finding out what excites you and then start to explore opportunities that will feed that curiosity. Our engineering programme is ideal for someone who likes to get stuck in, is good with their hands, enjoys finding solutions to problems and working as part of team. People will always need food, so the food and drink industry offers multiple pathways to build a career.
The final piece of advice I would give is to always research the company you apply for. As an apprentice it is important to work for a company that wants to recruit new talent to the business. Apprenticeships are for anyone so it’s a great way to explore something new if you are considering a career change, or unsure what path to take. Starting something new is a daunting experience for us all so it’s important to offer encouragement and really understand that everyone’s journey into full time work will be very different.
To find out more about apprenticeships at Moy Park click here.
