Kaylee was presented with the title of Apprentice of the Year at the Aycliffe Business Park awards, alongside a £1500 prize and was nominated for Apprentice of the Year at the EEF Awards for the North East, Yorkshire and Humber region.
“I’d say definitely go for it.” said Kaylee McNally, apprentice engineer at Arlington Automotive in Newton Aycliffe. Kaylee is talking about why she thinks other young people should consider an apprenticeship as a potential career route, and said: “It’s so much more rewarding in my eyes, compared to the academic route. I’m not in debt – I’m getting paid while I’m learning.”
It’s clear meeting Kaylee that she works extremely hard at Arlington Automotive. Just 19 years old, from Sunderland, she’s already clocking up a selection of awards to her name and becoming an integral part of the companies’ workforce.
Arlington, which has facilities throughout the UK, specialises in bespoke assemblies for automotive and aerospace, including welding, design, coatings, assembly and logistics.
Just a few weeks ago, Kaylee was presented with the title of Apprentice of the Year at the Aycliffe Business Park awards, alongside a £1500 prize too. This previous October, Kaylee was nominated for Apprentice of the Year at the EEF awards for the North East, Yorkshire and Humber, where she came third overall.
On 17th of March 2019, Kaylee will also be heading down to London for the Semta awards, honouring engineers from across the UK. Kaylee has been selected in the top three apprentices in the entire country – a truly fantastic achievement.
Arlington, which has facilities throughout the UK, specialises in bespoke assemblies for automotive and aerospace, including welding, design, coatings, assembly and logistics.
Back at work, Kaylee is getting involved in large projects for the business. “I’m currently a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) Engineer – so I do a lot of drawings for work that comes in from customers, then my department help quote that customer. I’m responsible for any design changes on the work, and I’m involved in tooling which means I have to do design reviews on the tooling; I’ve also designed my own tool.”
She’s not let setbacks from the past hold her back either. Before finding her feet at Arlington, Kaylee was an apprentice for another company, which unfortunately made 200 staff, including Kaylee, redundant.
That’s all in the past for Kaylee though – she’s flying high at Arlington already, and it’s exciting to see where she’ll end up in the future. She’s got lofty ambitions too; Kaylee hopes one day to make management, and plans on training to become a fully qualified chartered engineer too by studying for a Bachelor’s Degree and then a Master’s Degree afterwards too.
“The most rewarding thing about my work is the day-to-day challenges you face – my job is really varied too, so that’s great.”
Kaylee is living proof that apprenticeships really are a fantastic way to get into the career of your choice. She’s working hard at Arlington Automotive to pursue her dream career, and judging by her work ethic, and awards she’s already racking up, the future is looking exceptionally bright for this talented young engineer.
