Engineering Manufacturing Technician
Luke is an Apprentice Wiring Technician at Capula
I work as an apprentice wiring technician at Capula. My job involves building and wiring panels and cabinets that are used in power plants and nuclear sites across the UK. The cabinets are metal boxes which are full of terminals, relays, wires and different components.
We use packs containing all the power supplies and parts we need. We follow the engineer’s drawings and plans to connect the parts and assemble the panels, which are later installed on site. It’s electrical engineering really, and the cabinets we make are used at sites which deliver energy to homes and businesses.
The best part of my job is the people I work with, everyone is friendly and approachable, whether they’re on the shop floor or in another department. I’ve made good friends here, and it’s been really easy to go from college to a workplace.
The team I work in is quite big, with around 30 to 40 people, and there’s a mix of ages and experience levels. It’s great to learn from people who have been in the industry for years, there’s always someone there to answer any questions we have.
Communication is crucial in my job to make sure everything is done correctly and on time. We need to communicate with both our team and the engineers who design the panels. Hands-on skills are also important, as we need to install components precisely and sometimes in small, awkward spaces. Problem-solving is another key skill, especially when things don’t go as planned.
Everyone is supportive and happy to help each other out. Working in a team is essential because we all need to communicate effectively to solve problems. The more experienced team members have so much knowledge, which is invaluable. It's like free learning from their years of experience!
My favourite piece of equipment is the electric crimper. It strips and crimps wires quickly, saving a lot of time. It's efficient and makes the job much easier.
In my spare time, I enjoy playing football. I used to play six days a week when I was in school, and I still play now, although not as often. Football has always been a big part of my life.
I passed most of my GCSEs and decided to go to college instead of sixth form. I studied motorsport engineering at Stafford College and completed my Level 3 BTEC. After college, I looked for an apprenticeship and found one at Capula through the government website. I'm now finishing my first year of the apprenticeship, which lasts 3.5 years.
My advice to someone younger would be to get out there and apply for every apprenticeship you can. About a thousand people applied for the apprenticeship I’m doing and only around thirty were taken on. You have to take every chance you get because you never know where it might lead, and it's important to keep your options open. I never thought I'd be doing electrical engineering, even when I was in college, and here I am doing a job I really enjoy.
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