Matthew Taylor has gained a huge amount of experience since starting his apprenticeship at Waters Corporation 18 months ago.
Waters is a global organisation headquartered in the USA, with research and development groups based in Romania and Wilmslow – where Matthew is doing his apprenticeship. The company designs, develops and manufactures scientific instruments and software, supporting a wide variety of industries including small molecule pharma, biopharma, clinical, food and environmental.
Originally, Matthew approached The Growth Company and Manchester Digital prior to finishing his A Levels after deciding that university wasn’t for him. As a practical learner, Matthew liked the idea of working alongside professionals and it would give him the hands-on experience he preferred – so an apprenticeship was the perfect choice.
Thanks to his apprenticeship, he’s improved his problem-solving skills and learned a lot about programming. Before his apprenticeship, Matthew had limited coding skills but had a keen interest in learning more–he has now mastered C++ coding. He is currently revising for his upcoming CPP exam, and his daily workstack involves fixing problems that may arise in the development of the Instruments (Mass Specs) primarily fixing bugs, refactors and new features that may need to be fixed or implemented, and ensuring that the end product is up to Waters’ high standard.
Speaking about his future goals, Matthew said: “After my apprenticeship, I would like to continue working in the industry. I may take on further part-time qualifications to enhance my level 4 – and if there was a possibility of a level 5 I would look into that. If not, then I’d possibly look at an Open University course because I want to continue learning and developing my skillset with different courses and qualifications.”
Matthew’s line manager, Rick Threlfall, has been impressed with Matthew’s drive and determination. He said: “Matthew has brought the opportunity to see challenges through new perspectives. He has a genuine desire to learn and integrate with the teams - it's really quite inspiring to witness that level of enthusiasm.”
“Engaging with the apprenticeship programme has also re-opened a discussion with the business that we should be looking for enthusiasm and team fit over qualifications - something I personally feel is a very important message.”
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