Take the Open road to build your future
FAYE BANKS left school with no qualifications, but now thanks to the Open University she’s become an engineering consultant.
After returning to college and gaining ten grade-A GCSEs, she joined an apprenticeship scheme and obtained an HNC in electrical engineering. She then started an Open University course.
Faye, 37, from Leeds, has now spent over 17 years gaining qualifications with the distance learning provider and has a Master of Business Administration, a Masters of Engineering, a Masters of Science and a Masters of Technology Management.
She became the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) youngest fellow in 2015.
Faye is a consultant for Enzen Global Ltd and says: ‘As a child I was in local authority care and totally disengaged from the education system.
‘I always knew I was capable, but due to my background I just didn’t think that a university education was for me. ‘I found an unskilled job, but after six months, I was bored and decided the only way was to get some qualifications.
‘I chose to study engineering because I knew there was, and still is, a shortage of female engineers in the UK.
‘Working in the sector I could see there were opportunities if you had good qualifications.’
She describes her experiences with the OU as ‘life-changing’ and it eventually helped land her dream job with Enzen.
‘I would recommend the OU to anyone who wants to advance their career or attain personal goals.’