I did my placement with ExxonMobil. I worked at Fawley refinery down in Southampton, which is the biggest refinery in the UK. My role was a Fixed Equipment Engineer. I was on site every day doing internal/external inspections of various mechanical equipment, as well as optimising processes.

I got to apply what I had learned at Loughborough University, experience how complex a petrochemical plant can be, see how fast-paced and fascinating the energy industry is, and last, but not least, have fun whilst doing it all! 

I learned how to deal with stress and a huge amount of convoluted data. This skill helped me so much in my final year at university.  Time management as well as technical knowledge was also put into practice and this is something that gave me a good base for going back to academia.

After doing my wonderful placement, I was convinced I wanted to stay in energy. When I graduated, I joined Subsea7 as a graduate engineer working in the Business Improvement team in Paris, France. I am on a graduate scheme, so I will be moving to Installation and Project Engineering in the UK in March 2024. 

I recently did my BOSIET (Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training) at Warsash Maritime Academy, which is a training course that everyone who wants to go offshore must do. The training is quite extreme, and it includes, but is not limited to, firefighting, helicopter underwater escape and sea survival. Now that I have passed the course, I am excited about my first trip on a vessel in the ocean!