a young employee’s perspective by Josh Barton

There’s no such thing as a typical day in engineering. I work as a Sales and Service Engineer at Continuous Process Solutions, and the job can change so quickly that, at first, you might be there for something simple, but it could end up being a lot more complicated and take much more time.

The same is true when in the office doing the behind-the-scenes work. One day could be very quiet, and then all of a sudden, you get a call from a customer which throws you into full working mode.

Even with that being said, on site there are usually be things that you will do. Nine times out of ten, you will arrive on site, unload all the tools, meet the customer and ask what they have been having problems with and what they would like you to do. After this, you will inspect the work area, identify what needs doing and present your findings to the customer.

After the job, office work always follows, such as updating the customer information in the system, updating drawings and planning follow-ups. This also usually involves compiling a report on any other potentially troublesome things that were spotted during the initial work area inspection.

As well as the service side of my role, there is also the sales side. This involves speaking with customers about what they need, understanding the problem or application they have, putting together quotations and helping work out the best solution for them. Sometimes the work we find during an inspection can lead to further repairs, maintenance or improvements being recommended to the customer. This is then followed up with a quotation being sent and usually another job to plan for, which includes making sure all tools are checked, organised and in good condition before the next job.

I got into engineering when I went to college. I had left school with very few grades, as I never really enjoyed school enough to give it a good go, but I enrolled on a course in mechanical engineering because I had always enjoyed seeing how things worked and went together. I also really enjoyed working with lathes and milling machines.

After I completed this course, I found an apprenticeship. It was during this apprenticeship that I found my love for welding, and I enrolled on a welding course while still completing my apprenticeship. The training and experience I gained during this time helped build the skills that eventually led me into the role I am in today.

Engineering has taken me further than I ever expected because, when I was younger, it was often called a dirty job, and everyone always told me to stay away from it. For years, people were told to stay away from this kind of work, and fewer and fewer people wanted to do it. In the last few years, though, that has started to change, and engineering seems to be back on the rise.

Doing this job has allowed me to see things I never would have seen otherwise. At the start of 2026, I travelled to China for training with our partners Mingke on welding solid steel belts in both carbon steel and stainless steel. It was an opportunity to develop skills that are very specific to the work we do and to learn more about the equipment and processes involved.

I never would have expected to have an experience like that when I first got into engineering. I now have the opportunity to return to China for a month for further training.

A big part of engineering is problem-solving. When I go to a customer site, the problem they originally called about is not always the only problem we find. Sometimes, something that looks like a simple repair can turn out to have another cause, so you have to work out why it has happened rather than just fixing what is in front of you. That can involve inspecting the equipment, speaking to the people who use it every day and looking through drawings or previous reports. Once you understand the problem, you can start working out the best solution for the customer. That might be a repair, replacing a part, carrying out further maintenance or recommending an improvement to the system.

This is one of the ways engineers help shape the future of manufacturing. Even small improvements can reduce breakdowns, make equipment safer, reduce waste and help a site run more efficiently.

I would recommend engineering to any young person who likes finding out how things work, solving problems or working with their hands. You don’t have to be the person who gets the best grades at school to make a career in engineering. I wasn’t, and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I left school. Once I found something I enjoyed, though, I wanted to learn more and keep improving.

Engineering has given me opportunities I never expected, from learning different skills and working on different sites to travelling abroad for training. It is also a career where you are always learning because no two jobs or problems are exactly the same.

If I could give one bit of advice to someone thinking about engineering, it would be to just give it a go! There are so many different areas of engineering that you might find something you enjoy that you didn’t even know existed. If you had told me when I left school that engineering would one day take me to China, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.