Mike Henry // Senior Control and Instrumentation Engineer < back
	Why did you first decide to join Foster Wheeler?
	"There were a few factors that influenced my decision to join Foster Wheeler the main one being I wanted to join a company that had international travel, had a good graduate training programme and that would develop my career rather than just give me a short term opportunity for a job."
	Did you have any preconceptions of what it would be like to work at Foster Wheeler?
	"I didn’t really have any preconceptions of what it was like to work for Foster Wheeler prior to joining.  My father is in the oil and gas industry so I kind of knew what Foster Wheeler did.  I was looking for a company that would give me hands on experience and give me responsibility early on in my career and Foster Wheeler has done that."
	What level of responsibility have you been given?
	"Since joining Foster Wheeler as a graduate engineer I have being working in instrumentation and I am presently a lead instrument engineer.  I’ve got about 24 engineers working for me both here in the UK and overseas in Chennai.  I’ve been involved in the recruitment and assessment of potential candidates to our Graduate Programme and I'm also the electrical instrumentation graduate coordinator for my department."
	How have your skills developed since you joined?
	"In terms of technical skills I have been sent on a number of training programmes and schemes both here in the Reading office and on site training schemes that were based around safety and the use of emergency equipment on site.  I’ve trained on a number of software packages and tools as well as philosophy type training based on hazardous area and safety integrity levels.  In terms of soft skills Foster Wheeler has a number of in- house training modules that I have attended including Managing Others, Successful Mentoring and Lead Engineer Training. "
	Have you had any experience of working on project sites?
	"Since joining Foster Wheeler I was lucky enough to get site experience early on in my career at an oil refinery in the UK. Following that I spent time working on a petro chemical facility that we’ve developed in China.  I have worked on a FEED that rolled over into detailed engineering on a Middle Eastern petrochemical and oil refinery facility. "
	What first attracted you to Foster Wheeler?
	"One of the things that attracted me to Foster Wheeler was the opportunity to travel. I’ve being lucky enough to work on site within the UK at an oil refinery in South Wales for about 12 months and also spent 14 months in Singapore with a control system manufacturer working on a petrochemical facility that was based in China.  I’ve also been on a number of factory acceptance tests in the Middle East and also within the UK."