Often we spot forum posts from young PHers looking for a way in to the motor industry, so when we saw this from our neighbours at Autocar we thought it was rather apt.
It's called the Autocar-Courland Next Generation Award, and calls for students to enter a 'money can't buy' competition where they can get their hands on valuable work experience at companies like McLaren, Mercedes Benz, Peugeot, Toyota and Skoda in addition to a £7500 cash prize.
The Autocar-Courland Next Generation Award is a national competition to identify, support and develop top automotive talent of the future. Entrants from UK universities are invited to draft a 500-word response to a brief set by Autocar Editor-in-chief, Steve Cropley.
The winner will spend a month with each of the aforementioned partners, undertaking work experience that is tailored to their degree qualification and the sector of the auto industry they want to work in. At McLaren, for example, the winner will spend a month doing real work on real cars, not just making the tea or being shown around the MTC.
Initially, six entrants are shortlisted to present their ideas to the panel of judges. From there three finalists are chosen, who are invited to the SMMT dinner where they get to showcase in front of the SMMT guests before the final winner is chosen.
The scheme works too: Holly Robinson was a finalist in the inaugural year of the award and she now works for Audi UK. Last year's winner, Hari Meyyappan, had an idea about hybrid scooters and he'll be doing his work experience in Honda, Toyota and Peugeot's R&D facilities.
If any PHers fancy having a go at this challenge, visit this web page for details of how to enter. Please note, the deadline for entries is the 28th August.