Curt

Job Title: Director of Business Excellence

Qualifications:

ONC & HNC in Electrical Engineering
BSc Hons Electronics & Software
MBA (Master of Business Administration.
Plus many more professional related qualifications.

Profile

I did an apprenticeship as mentioned below. I held senior technical and leadership roles at Hotpoint, then I spent 10 years at Domino Printing Sciences in Cambridge, again holding senior technical and leadership roles. During my time at Domino I was fortunate enough to be seconded with my family to Southern California for a year. After leaving Domino I moved to Adder Technology as Head of Production, and now I am Director of Business Excellence. I have had a really enjoyable career so far, I've travelled extensively with work too. I can honestly I have had very few periods in my career where I have not enjoyed my work. I have never suffered from the famous 'Sunday night blues'!

In 1995 I left Sawtry after my GCSEs, I did very well in my exams, but chose to start a Technical Apprenticeship with Hotpoint in Peterborough. I spent 4 years working in all the major functions of the business', including non technical departments such as Sales & Marketing. Alongside the work experience I did day release for 7 years, here I achieved a Distinction in both ONC & HNC Electrical Engineering, and a BSc Hons degree through Sheffield University. Following my 4 year apprenticeship I started a full time job as a Process Engineer in the factory that made motors for washing machines, after this I moved into a Design Engineer role within R&D. During my 11 years at Hotpoint I had many different roles and some senior management positions. I have more recently just completed an apprenticeship again, this time achieving my MBA. Apprenticeships are brilliant, work, earn money, learn, no debts! At 23 years of age I had 7 years work experience, a degree, lots of professional training, I had direct reports, I was in a very strong position professionally and very employable. I also had my own house and best of all no university debts!

BSc Hons + Master's in Business Administration.

I am also a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.

Advice to students

If you have an urge inside to do something, or go down a particular path, don't hesitate, go for it while you can. The older you get, the more responsibilities you tend to have, so it gets harder, don't miss the golden years where you are truly free to follow your dreams. Don't be pressured into a traditional university route, it is a great option, but not the only one, and it is not for everyone. Whatever you decide to do, commit to it, give it your all.

Additional Resources

What is an Apprenctieship?