After six months working in a shop, this graduate finally landed a job bringing motorsport technology to the world

A much talked-about shortage of engineers doesn’t guarantee you’ll walk straight out of university into a graduate job. And if you’re trying to break into a competitive industry like motorsport, finding a suitable role can be a particular struggle.

Six months after he’d finished his master’s in motorsport engineering at Oxford Brookes University, Vignesh Viswanath was considering going back to India. Even with work experience placements at an automotive manufacturer and a research institution on his CV, he was battling just to get a job interview.

‘I was doing retail jobs just to pay the bills,’ he says. ‘It’s very demotivating and a grind. Every day you apply for jobs and most of the time you don’t even hear back.’

Vinny knew he couldn’t just focus on the big F1 teams so he began writing to as many firms in the industry supply chain as he could, looking at companies supporting the other ranks of motorsport. His breakthrough came while using LinkedIn to look for potential employers when he came across co-founder of KW Motorsport, Kieron Salter.