As university and college admissions take place in Lithuania, high school graduates face important decisions: which specialty to choose, what to study, and how to avoid mistakes. To help them, those who recently faced the same dilemmas step in. Today, they are still students, but they are already making strong moves in the job market—engineering studies have given them the opportunity to successfully start their careers while still studying.
Students who choose the engineering field often enter the job market during their studies—employers notice them even before they receive their diplomas. Engineers working at the new energy group “EPSO-G” share why they chose this path, how they manage to balance studies with work, and why energy engineering is becoming not only a promising but also a meaningful career choice.
Pushed Into Engineering by… a Hammered Nail
Rasa Kireilė, who just finished her second year of electromechanics at Panevėžys College, joined the junior engineer program at the natural gas transmission system operator “Amber Grid” this summer and currently works at the company’s Panevėžys branch.
She says she was drawn to exact sciences since adolescence, but the real push toward engineering came from… hammering a nail herself. “I remember very vividly when I was quite young and asked my dad to hammer a nail so I could hang a picture in my room. He replied, ‘Try hammering it yourself. Will you always ask others to do it? There won’t always be someone nearby who knows how,’” R. Kireilė recalls.
She admits that it was then she realized she wanted to be more independent and learn to do things on her own. This sparked her interest in various mechanisms, how they work, their constructions, and other technological details.
Still, R. Kireilė’s path to engineering was winding—she tried three different study programs (hospitality and event industry, logistics, business management) before returning to her teenage dream and enrolling in electromechanics at Panevėžys College.
“Today, I finally feel like I’ve found myself and what excites me, what challenges me but never stops me from pushing forward,” she says.
She plans to link her future with the energy sector because she sees meaning there. “I’ve always wanted to do something that would make the future better. I want to be part of that and feel in my heart that I’m doing something meaningful,” she notes.
Engineering Mindset as a “Superpower”
“Amber Grid” automation engineer Nojus Valiukas knew back in school that he wanted to study in the engineering field, but it was hard to decide—computer engineering, sound engineering, or maybe automation?
“As the application deadline approached, I wrote down my options on a piece of paper, got into my ‘Bolt Food’ car, and went out to deliver food orders through the night. I kept glancing at the paper, thinking it over. They say the morning is wiser than the evening, so when I got back at dawn after a sleepless night, I was fully decided, lined up my choices on the LAMA BPO system, and went to rest. Later, I found out that I’d be studying automation, which was at the top of my list,” he recalls.
After graduating from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH), N. Valiukas says it wasn’t easy at first to adjust to the new learning style after school, and at one point he even considered quitting. Nevertheless, he didn’t give up, applied for an “Amber Grid” scholarship, and after receiving it, his motivation to “struggle through lab work grew exponentially.”
Last year, as a fourth-year student, N. Valiukas completed an internship at “Amber Grid,” after which he was offered to stay on at least part-time. This year, he works full-time as an automation engineer.
N. Valiukas notes that the engineering mindset he gained helps not only at work but also in everyday life—it allows him to find solutions to complex situations more quickly.
The Opportunity to Create and Be Part of Technological Breakthroughs
Justinas Mačiulaitis, operational planning engineer at the energy storage system operator “Energy cells,” started working in the energy sector while still in his third year of the electrical energy engineering bachelor’s program. He was intrigued by a job advertisement inviting candidates to join the implementation of a battery energy storage system (BESS).
“I thought it would be a very interesting experience because BESS parks were just being built and seemed almost utopian. But that’s exactly what attracted me—the opportunity to be part of innovation,” J. Mačiulaitis explains.
Innovation is an inseparable part of engineering—it’s a field that is constantly evolving and changing. According to him, ongoing technological breakthroughs are one of the main reasons why he chose to study engineering.
“This is one of those specialties where work is rarely monotonous. Equally important, I always wanted to choose a specialty where I could, even indirectly, contribute to Lithuania’s progress and well-being, so the field of electrical engineering was a natural choice,” says J. Mačiulaitis.
J. Mačiulaitis is currently combining his early-start career at “Energy cells” with a master’s degree in electrical energy systems engineering at VILNIUS TECH.
“Balancing a full-time job and bachelor’s studies is not easy; it requires careful time management and a lot of determination. However, it’s already easier to balance master’s studies, as lectures are held in the evenings,” he notes.
