Nilzo's story

Nilzo Manuel

I am Nilzo Manuel. I'm a mechanical and electrical apprentice and I work at Canal & River Trust. When I looked at this job, the opportunity just made sense. It is an opportunity where I get to go outside and see all the wildlife. Nothing beats summer when you're going on a canal and it's sunny and you see all the swans swimming by.

And then you hear the birds singing in the morning, you’re fixing something. Best feeling. As a kid, I always enjoyed looking at the wildlife. I'd watch a lot of documentaries and find out a lot about animals. And my dad has always been a mechanically minded person, so he passed on a lot of information. I always looked at him and I thought you would be able to fix anything.

So that's the kind of mindset I grew up with and I wanted to achieve that. On a daily basis, we do a lot of servicing and a lot of maintenance inspections, making sure things are on date, in good condition for the construction workers to be able to use. We also get called on breakdowns, so breakdowns are usually when they're not able to work, they need it as a priority.

So it could be anything. It could be engines not starting. It could be the electrics. It could even be the welfare. It could be the hydraulics, for example, the cranes not working or there's leaks. It's a bit of everything, really. It's a good all-round job. The career I chose to get here, obviously, after school, getting my GCSEs, I went to college and I did a mechanical engineering course, and in that course, I did a bit of everything I did CADs.

I did some practical work in the workshop where I would use lathing machines, drilling machines, used to do some welding, there was a lot of fabrication. I did a lot of maths, a lot of science. So I think all these skills helped me to get here to get this apprenticeship, Yeah, that needs to be sent away for repair.

But as this faulty then there's nothing to make it spin really. I don't think college is the only route to get here. I think if you were to grow up, for example, in a garage, you know, and always had an interest. Although you didn’t go to college but you knew, for example, how engines work, and had quite a bit of experience.

I think they would take you on if you really want it. Yeah. So right now, I’m at this stage where I'm nearly done with my apprenticeship. So I want to get the highest grade as I can and then progress to a permanent role in Canal & River Trust. Once I achieve that, I will want to stay and get as much experience as I can and feel comfortable enough to get any jobs sent out to me.

And I know I'll be able to sort it out.