Neil is currently a Development Technician for an medical systems company called Elekta. He is based in Crawley. Amongst other products, Elekta make radiotherapy machines for cancer treatment. His main job is building “life tests” to test the prototype parts and he also runs test analysis. He has been in this job for six years.

When he was 16 years old he left college to do an apprenticeship in Engineering after which he did a BTEC Engineering course. His schoolteachers were not that supportive. “My metalwork teacher basically said I probably shouldn’t go into engineering.” However, Neil managed to get the grades to start his apprenticeship, which led him to do an HNC course then an HND. The apprenticeship lasted four years, as did his HNC and HND courses in mechanical engineering.

After his first year at his job his boss asked him if he was going to go back to college. “I was a bit dubious at first, after not having done it in so long”. Neil did decide to go back to college because he thought it would benefit his career. His boss was very supportive of him. He allowed Neil to have some time off to go to college and also he lent him some of his old maths books to learn from. His apprenticeship was with a simulations company in Crawley. He chose to take this path as he loved aeroplanes. He preferred to work with the simulators rather then the real thing and was happy to work with them as they were the new technology of the time.

Neil would advise current college students you to take in all the advice you get from your lecturers and course teachers. He also says that if there are any support classes such as maths or science it would be good to do them. He struggled with maths, and because of that was worried about his exams, but after doing the support classes he got through it with no problems. He also said that his support teacher was brilliant because he broke everything down for him and taught him very well.

Neil did not have to pay for his HND and HNC because he was sponsored. He thinks that the course can be very pricey but there is help available in paying for them. He also stated that if he had the chance, he would have tried to pay for them himself. He thinks that doing further education is good, “because it shows that you can not only motivate yourself to learn but also show that you’re committed in your career.” He thinks, however, that it doesn’t necessarily give you more chance of getting a good job.

Neil is thinking of continuing to study a degree in the near future. After that he thinks he may do a course where he can learn more about analysis because he has to do test analysis at his work. “I have been very lucky in my careers because I’ve worked with some very good companies”. Research and development is something he would like to continue studying. His main goal in life is to enjoy his job and be happy. He thinks the worst thing is being in a job you don’t enjoy.

Neil is a student at Central Sussex College. For more information about Central Sussex College, please visit the Central Sussex College website.

Photograph by Alex McLoughlin

Our thanks to Neil Nestor and to Central Sussex College Media Department