Meet Geraint, Senior Mechanical Engineer in Babcock’s Cavendish Nuclear business, who switched to a career in nuclear after 22 years in the white goods and water treatment industries. “I knew the nuclear industry was going through a period of growth and I wanted to give it a go! A lot of the skills I’ve developed over the years were transferable, from technical skills to the personal ones. My advice to anyone considering moving to a career in nuclear would be to go for it.”

Geraint has worked in various sectors, most recently in the water treatment industry developing wastewater treatment reactors, and prior to that the white goods industry designing and developing professional appliances.

After feeling stuck in a rut, Geraint decided it was time to switch it up. Inspired by his grandfather who had a long career in the nuclear industry and knowing nuclear was going through a period of growth, although he didn’t have any nuclear specific experience, he decided to go for it.

“I needn’t have worried – a lot of the skills I’ve developed over the years were transferable, from technical skills to personal ones such as being able to build working relationships quickly and working as part of a team.”

At Babcock, we’ve introduced new approaches outside of traditional routes, opening up opportunities to a broader range of people to join the sector, powering up their career. “I really enjoy learning about new things, so joining a new industry has given me plenty of opportunity to do that. I particularly enjoyed the course provided by the National Skills Academy Nuclear and would highly recommend this to any new starter from outside the industry.

“My advice to anyone considering moving to a career in nuclear would be to go for it – as my manager pointed out to me, the job was 90% mechanical and 10% nuclear, so if you’ve got a good grounding in 90% of the role, you can work on developing that last 10%!”