This week, thousands of students across the UK received their A-Level results. A nerve-wrecking experience, and one where many were left disappointed and re-assessing their next steps. For most 18-year-olds the results they receive, and the university they go to, seems like the be all and end all. However, not getting the results you hoped to achieve does not rule you out of your dream career.

James Amor, who is now a Licenced Technologist and Lead Architect for FalconWorks at BAE Systems, is one such example.

A passion for making things

“I spent a lot of my childhood doing woodwork and cabinet making with my Dad, and that’s where my love for making things stemmed from,” he begins. “I moved onto software from there – the first system I ever created was programming a computer to ring my grandparents, so that when they got near the phone it would hang up – so just a bit of fun, but I got in a lot of trouble!”

Even though Amor was obviously talented with software and IT, he says he was never the most successful academic – “I hated education and I struggled with GCSEs. The A Level college I went to also didn’t offer any courses in Information Technology, so I settled for Chemistry, Biology and English Literature.”

Although he originally had an offer to study Chemistry at Keele University, he wanted to take a step back to re-evaluate his next steps. He had no general direction but knew it had to involve computers and software. After a year’s break working for the NHS, he went to Liverpool John Moores University, and studied Software Engineering. He applied to BAE Systems straight out of university and has been there ever since.

Creating out a roadmap for new technologies

As a Licensed Technologist Amor worked to ensure BAE’s technology planning meets the future needs of the business. This involves understanding what technologies both within and outside of defence will help the company meet capability requirements as a business.

Amor looks across everything in the technology sector that could be viable for the military industry – everything from medical, gaming, automotive, civil aviation, and financial sectors, and asks: “What are they doing with cutting-edge technologies that we could exploit and evolve?”

As well as leading on the development of some cutting-edge technologies at BAE, Amor and his team are always keeping tabs on what the next big thing is, and asking if the company needs to be investing in these technologies and seeking to better understand them from a defence and security point of view.

“It’s very rewarding setting and shaping the strategic direction on what the next fundamental technology advantage we are going to deliver to our customers is. Then seeing those ideas come to life is very fulfilling.”

Do a job you love

Amor describes his role as having a, “shelf of fantastic ideas and concepts” that has to be continually re-stocked.

“I don’t see what I do as work. As a hobbyist, I apply the same passions at home too. I make sequenced Christmas lights, Remembrance Day displays, and Halloween displays with automated candy dispensers – everything has embedded computing. To paraphrase Top Gun: Military aviation isn’t what I do, it’s what I am!”

Beyond school grades

Over 20 years on from his school days, Amor is now a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and has three patents to his name. He was also nominated for a Gold Chairman’s award for a flight safety innovation used by BAE Systems and presented to the RAF – not bad for someone who didn’t get the top grades at school.

Safe to say, Amor is a testament to the fact that A Level Results are not the be all and end all. In fact, getting the grades he got encouraged him to take a step back and reconsider what he really wanted to do, ultimately setting him on the right road for success in the world of aerospace and aviation.

His advice for those looking to work in this sector:

• Find what you love, and who you are; do that as a job, and you’ll never work a day in your life
  
  
• Build your networks – everyone in life will have something you can learn to help you develop as a person. It’s good to listen in and learn from others
  
  
• Don’t be put off if you don’t get exactly what you want result and career wise – learn everything you can from the opportunities you do have, and channel it into what you do next
  
  
• Get yourself a business mentor to lean on for advice in your career
  
  
• Sell yourself – you don’t need to be modest and reserved. Appreciate the value of what you do and what you contribute
  
  
• Be kind to yourself. Throughout your career you’ll be challenged, and that’s ok, but make sure you look after yourself throughout the process
  
  
• Be true to yourself – follow a path that you know will motivate you and bring true job satisfaction

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