Finding his place and being part of something world-changing at UKAEA

Created by VERCIDA for UKAEA

James Burton-Sweeten has not had a traditional career path, but he has found job satisfaction and support at UKAEA while overcoming challenges along the way.

In 2012, I dropped out of my A-levels, partly because I didn’t want to go to university, so I couldn’t see the point in doing them. Over the next few years, I started some courses at college, but couldn’t really find anything that fit, so I started doing temp work. Mostly, I was working in warehouses and digital print companies – it wasn’t bad work and I made it more interesting by turning the tasks into games in my head – but the pay wasn’t great and I couldn’t see a real future for myself.

To my surprise, I got an apprenticeship at a car manufacturing plant. Even though I was not especially academic at school, I did really well with my BTech studies as part of the apprenticeship. But I struggled with the working environment, especially when we had to look at ways to make things more efficient on the production line. I know it’s not as simple as just replacing humans with machines, but I had issues with people losing their jobs.

After three years, I left the car manufacturer and started working for a company that validates currency. That was interesting work and I got to travel to Europe, but again, I couldn’t see a career path – that’s when I applied to work for UKAEA and I got a job as a technical clerk.

I had some engineering experience, but I wasn’t an engineer, but the job was a great place to start with UKAEA and learn about fusion back in 2019. My role was to assist the engineers with the tasks that take them away from their practical work. I’d never worked in the public sector before and I find it fascinating.

At the same time, I’ve been studying part-time for a politics, philosophy and economics degree via the Open University and became involved with the trade union onsite. When the pandemic happened in 2020, it was a challenging time navigating Covid-19 from a trade union perspective, as well as adjusting to working remotely.

I was struggling with the new ways of working during lockdown, such as the lack of familiar routines. My anxiety levels were going through the roof. I was under a lot of pressure, but I found that keeping myself busy was a good coping mechanism. I’ve always been good at crisis management, and I started taking on more technical project work during lockdown, as well as shadowing engineers, which made my job more interesting.

With the way my mind works, I like a controlled, structured environment with defined timelines and deadlines. I started doing more project work over 2021 and 2022, along with my trade union role and buying a house with my wife – I wonder now if I was on the edge of burnout. I always had questions in my head about ADHD, but I used to put all my struggles down to my own failings. 

I was finally diagnosed with ADHD earlier this year. This made it much easier to communicate the areas at work where I was struggling. My line manager has been fantastic – neurodiversity awareness is still very low across society, but having a diagnosis helped me recognise where I needed help and made me more comfortable with these conversations. I was often working excessively long days to compensate for the struggles I was experiencing because of undiagnosed ADHD.

When I was interviewed for my current role as an engineering technician and assistant project manager, it was the day after I started my ADHD medication. I felt like I had a case of imposter syndrome because I was interfacing with people from more academic backgrounds than mine. As a result, I almost over-prepared for the interview. I had a briefcase with paperwork about everything I had ever worked on, so I could prove that I had every business being in that interview.

It was fantastic to get the job – it’s the kind of work that comes naturally to me, such as stakeholder engagement and meeting deadlines with clear expectations. Since I’ve been on medication, I can actually focus when I want to focus.

I've got a really good open dialogue with my line manager who is supportive and open to listening to ways in which the organisation can support me to succeed. For me, one of the most important adjustments is hybrid working. It’s still early days, but the mix of working onsite and from home has made a huge difference, especially when I need the space to have that creativity and freedom to think without distraction.

As someone with ADHD, working with people who care so much is absolutely amazing. Working in an environment where people are forward-looking and put the collective goal of advancing fusion for the good of everyone creates a rewarding atmosphere in the workplace. We're doing something that is so important – at some point, we'll change the world and make the lives of so many people better.

I'm not a physicist or a plasma scientist, but none of what we do at UKAEA happens without everyone. I am privileged to be a part of the work we’re doing to advance fusion and I cannot think of anywhere else I’d rather work.