Diversity


Alex McLoughlin Placement with E.ON


Studying and working in STEM: what’s it like?


Year in Industry undergraduate student Alex McLoughlin has recently concluded her placement with E.ON, taking a year out from studying her Electronic and Communications Engineering (BEng) degree. She joined as an Offshore Wind Performance Coordinator because she is passionate about the energy industry and in particular renewables.


So Alex, why did you decide to do a Year in Industry with E.ON? The energy industry is vital to our everyday lives, so I wanted to be a part of an important business that has a direct effect on how we all live. With the green energy targets set by the government, it is an exciting time to be involved - new technologies are emerging and improvements are happening constantly.


Tell us a little bit about what you were working on during your placement.


I was working on improvements for the fleet of crew transfer vessels (CTVs) that E.ON own and use for travelling to their offshore wind farms. For me, this meant travelling around the country to visit each site, gathering data and talking to a wide range of people. After that, I was working on a safety management system for operating the vessels, monitoring performance data and analysing compliance with best practice in the industry.


What has been the highlight of the scheme for you so far?


The opportunities involved with my role were fantastic; I have travelled across the UK, Scotland and Germany, attended conferences in London, and sailed on various different boats. The atmosphere at E.ON is really friendly and supportive, so I felt at ease in the office environment and was able to learn from others around me, which has made the whole experience very enjoyable.


What does a typical day look like? I was largely based in the Westwood office in Coventry, where I attended various online meetings and contacted colleagues in different locations, as my role required working closely with many other people. The time flew by as I found what I was working on quite exciting.


When I was travelling, it’s was usually quite an early start and often a long journey; however, I found the face-to-face meetings very beneficial, as well as attending a variety of interesting conferences and meetings - the travelling didn’t put me off.


Where do you see yourself after your Year in Industry? I’ve found the Year in Industry incredibly rewarding and it has influenced my thinking about future careers. I can easily see myself working either in renewables, preferably offshore wind, or in vessels – using both my degree and knowledge of sailing, which I enjoy outside of work.


Do you have any advice for anyone thinking about doing a Year in Industry at E.ON?


Apply for the scheme as soon as you can so that you can get into the first assessment centre. E.ON is a great place to work and there are so many opportunities - you can make as much or as little from the placement as you choose.


Finally, what are some the highlights and challenges of being a woman in a STEM industry and role? As a woman in a male-dominated environment, I’ve never had any issues with being one of the very few females and have always met with a positive response. However, I do understand how the prospect of this could be a challenge for others. This is such a fulfilling and rewarding area to work in, and I would encourage any woman thinking of a career in a STEM role to give it their all - not to be put off.


So how are we at E.ON working to attract more female talent to the STEM industry? For one thing, we take extra care in our Employer Branding to make sure that women are equally represented on all engineering, IT and other STEM related promotional activities. We also run early- learning programs in primary schools and run workshops for secondary students to encourage girls to study STEM subjects. In addition, we are involved with the Media Planet initiative Women in STEM which launched on International Women in Engineering Day as well as working with organisations such as the Bright Network to encourage greater gender diversity in student recruitment.


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