Meet James

We prefer not to work alone, partly because of safety. Depending on the project, I might work beside another technician, an engineer, an apprentice or someone senior.

One thing I like is what programmers call a ‘rubber duck’ moment: I explain a problem to someone else and, halfway through saying it, I suddenly see the answer. It gets its name because you explain your problem out loud, step by step, as though you’re talking to a rubber duck! Sometimes, just talking it through can unlock the solution.

If I had to pick one, a screwdriver set is probably the most useful. I'm always taking something apart or opening it up to see what is going on.

But I don't really have one favourite tool. Depending on the job, I might be using a laptop, a memory stick or the controller beside a robot instead.

Outside work, a lot of my hobbies are practical too. My family has always had a boat, so I've grown up sailing, and I've spent years around classic Land Rovers. When I was seven, my dad even bought an eight-tonne steamroller, which still lives in the back garden!

More recently, I bought a house that needed plenty of work, so I've been slowly doing that up too.

One achievement I'm proud of involved choosing software for running virtual machines, which are computers created in software. I remembered a different approach from a YouTube video I'd watched months earlier and I suggested using a free hypervisor, which is software that manages virtual machines.

I compared the different options, and the team chose my suggestion. It became a really essential part of the project. Seeing an idea I'd had being used day to day was a proud moment.

This technician role didn't exist when I started my apprenticeship. Engineers were doing a lot of the setup and support work themselves until someone made the case for a technician team to take it on – it shows how important technicians are in the process.

I remember being told at college that I might end up doing a job that didn't exist yet. A few years later, that's exactly what happened.

I'd love to do a degree next, ideally through a degree apprenticeship. I want to build my qualifications and move more towards the project side of the work.

I don't see learning as something that finishes when an apprenticeship ends, so carrying on developing is important to me.

Don't worry too much about choosing one route and thinking you're stuck there. An apprenticeship can look as if it narrows your options, but I've seen people start in mechanical, electrical or other areas and move into robotics.

I didn't know exactly where I wanted to end up for much of my apprenticeship either. The important part is to keep learning as you go.