by Alex McLoughlin

“It was definitely worth it…I would never have got the job I’ve got now.”

Although Samantha has been working for EDF Energy for the past 10 years she worked very hard to make her way to the top. She started as a Secretary in the safety section and then moved on to become a Safety Officer before moving on again to being a Project Designer. But she was determined to succeed further and after completing her ONC (Ordinary National Certificate) in Electrical Engineering, Samantha studied the HND (Higher National Diploma) in Electrical Engineering which has given her enough qualifications to gain a managerial position for EDF Energy which used to be SEEBOARD.

At her current job as a Performance Team Leader, she is responsible for the safety and welfare of 25 overhead line craftsmen and jointers. Her job is to make sure they have got everything so she goes out to check them on site. She also does their appraisals and team briefings which she finds it a bit daunting at first but she enjoys doing it. “I’ve just been put down to do High Voltage switching so I can train to be like one of the field engineers.”

Samantha started out as a young girl at secondary school who had no idea what she wanted to do for her career. She did work experience for one week when she was at school, at a supermarket and then went on to continue working in one. She believes that work experience is a good thing for students. “I think the only thing that’s a problem is it’s hard to know at that age what sort of work experience you want to do. ”

She did her A Levels in French and German although she didn’t know what was going to do with them and only took them because she had good GCSEs in them. By the time she finished her A Levels, she didn’t want to go to university and didn’t want to do anything with languages, so she decided to work in an office of a supermarket. When Samantha was 27, she did City and Guilds course in electrical engineering through an Open Learning package with Manchester University. and at 29, she went back to college to start an ONC (Ordinary National Certificate).

Being the only female and the eldest student in the class seemed strange to her at first however people in the class looked up to her and asked her to help them out in all sorts of situations. When Samantha started her HNC there were a lot older people so she felt that she integrated better in her class. When she finished her HND she got offered to go and do a course in Portsmouth University, to make her HND into a degree but she declined the offer because she had just got a new job and wanted a break from studying.

As far as combining work, study and family life together Samantha found it pretty hard. She realised that she studied better in the mornings and she got herself into a routine where she studied before she went to work and at her lunchtimes, but during exams time, or if she had an assignment coming up, she also studied extra in the evenings . Samantha has three step kids who stay with her every other weekend so she tried to study only in the week as she believes you need a good balance between study and personal life.

In Samantha’s position, it is important to have a supportive family. Thankfully that’s what she had. Her husband supported her all the way through, especially when she had exams coming up and they had the kids, he would go out for a couple of hours so she could study and then they would do something together. Samantha’s husband is very proud of what she achieved and kept on telling everybody about her excellent results!

Samantha is considering taking a managerial course in the future, but she does not want to take anymore courses in engineering at the moment. Samantha studied for seven years to get to her position at EDF Energy. “From my HND I got ten distinctions and six merits” (she smiles). No wonder Samantha is proud. It is something to be proud about. “It makes all that hard work worth while”.

Samantha outside Central Sussex College where she studied for her HND in Electrical Engineering.

For more information about Central Sussex College, please visit www.centralsussex.ac.uk.

Photograph by Alex McLoughlin

Our thanks to Samantha Burchell and Central Sussex College Media Department