Donna Mitchell

Donna is an Electrical Technician at Aquatic Engineering and Construction in Peterhead. She is part of a small team of technicians that carry out maintenance and upgrades to a large fleet of Track Tensioners and Reel Drive Systems which are provided to the Oil and Gas and Renewable Energy sector to safely lay or recover flexible products to the sea bed.

She previously worked for Baker Hughes using her mechanical and electronic skills. When she moved to Aquatic Engineering and Construction Donna knew that that there would be a lot of new knowledge and skills to learn. Donna instigated conversations with NESCol and her supervisor to look at an apprenticeship qualification relevant to her role in Electrical Maintenance.

She said, “I achieved my SVQ Level 2 when I was 18 and my HNC in Electronics when I was 23. I always wanted to do my Modern Apprenticeship but I just never got the chance at the time. So when I started at Aquatic and found out that an MA was still open to me despite being slightly older I didn’t hesitate.”

“I felt it would be good to get back into learning – I think you learn more when you’re studying the area and industry that you work in day-today. It’s a good thing for your career to have qualifications that reflect your knowledge and experience.”

Donna worked on site throughout the pandemic and used her holidays to complete the necessary study.

She said, “We couldn’t go anywhere on holiday during lockdown so I used the time to study!”