Josh from Toyota Motor Manufacturing has been selected to represent the UK on the international stage in Mechatronics. Read his story.
Josh from Burton-upon-Trent has his family to thank for inspiring his career in engineering.
“My family has always been in the engineering sector and that gave me the drive to want to pursue a career in the same industry.”
After struggling at school, Josh looked around at alternatives to university. He was delighted that Toyota realised his potential when reviewing his Maths and Science GCSE results so were willing to take him on as an apprentice alongside Burton and South Derbyshire College.
“For me, engineering is about being hands on. At school you sometimes hear that you need to go to university. But I love my job as a maintenance technician at Toyota.”
Toyota, a long time partner of WorldSkills UK, has a proud history of sending people to EuroSkills and WorldSkills. It was in mechatronics, the building of miniature production lines, that Josh competed at with WorldSkills UK after being encouraged by older colleagues who had competed previously.
“I really enjoy competing, the whole process is really enjoyable. It’s not just your competition but also walking around and seeing the other competitions is fascinating.
“Competing in WorldSkills UK competitions has really helped my composure. You learn to not let bad exercises or days affect you, you need to put it to bed and be ready for the next challenge. If you don’t make mistakes you don’t learn how to improve for next time.”
Josh also appreciates how his apprenticeship and WorldSkills UK training can work together. “I’ve learned stuff at Toyota which has helped me with WorldSkills UK and vice versa, it’s a great advantage.
Josh was selected to be a part of Squad UK in December 2019 and he’s enjoyed the training he’s received. “Learning the new stuff is tricky”, he said, “but it’s the new challenges that makes it so interesting.”
With selection for Team UK looming, Josh was invited to a Zoom call with his Training Manager and wasn’t confident about the outcome.
“I wasn’t sure whether it was to be a yes or a no. But when I heard the news that Will and I had made the team I was ecstatic. It’s great to know that my Training Manager has noticed my hard work and it’s paid off”.
“Finding out that I’m going to be representing the UK is quite daunting. It’s a big responsibility to represent your country but it’s a challenge that excites me. I imagine in Graz everyone will be at a similar level in terms of skills so it’s how you perform on the day, I thrive on that challenge so can’t wait to get there.”
EuroSkills Graz is currently postponed due to COVID-19.
