Find your place in the car industry: Autocar's Drivers of Change

Ever wondered why you read so many familiar names in stories about cars and their creators? It’s no mystery. Those people you read about – and tens of thousands you don’t – have discovered that the motor industry provides one of the most challenging, rewarding and fast-moving careers going. That’s why they stay in it.

Cars are unique. To be successful, they have to combine huge emotional appeal with the reliability of a Swiss watch. No consumer product is more expensive or complex, yet we expect every car to cope uncomplainingly with heat and dust, mud and ice, constant vibration and unstinting use in many different hands – while needing to return to its maker for maintenance for only three or four hours a year. Creating or operating such multi-faceted machines is just about the toughest creative challenge going, but for many people – and perhaps for you – it’s irresistible.

If so, here’s a chance to find your own place in the UK’s huge and vibrant automotive business. In partnership with the executive search company Ennis & Co, Autocar is launching a unique initiative called Drivers of Change, aimed at finding potential recruits and assisting them into new careers in three key automotive areas: technology, digital and retail. Drivers of Change is backed by more than a dozen big-name car industry sponsors, and the winner in each category receives a £5000 prize plus advice and contacts designed to give him or her the inside track to find a rewarding automotive career.

Interested? To enter, you must write up to 500 words giving details of an original idea or innovation you believe can bring benefit to the automotive business in one of the three categories above. This must be supported by a 90-second video explaining why you and your idea deserve to be winners.

The sky’s the limit for ideas. Everything will be considered. But rest assured that Drivers of Change will put a high value on originality and innovation. A panel of judges will compile a shortlist of the best entries in each category and invite their authors and inventors to a special assessment day, consisting of interviews and activities aimed at deciding the winners.

The successful trio will receive their awards on stage at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ annual dinner in central London on 24 November, famous as the biggest UK automotive gathering of the year. But now, it’s time to get started. For your entry to be eligible, we must receive it by 30 June.

For more information, visit the Drivers of Change website.

Steve Cropley

Title: Editor-in-chief

Steve Cropley is the oldest of Autocar’s editorial team, or the most experienced if you want to be polite about it. He joined over 30 years ago, and has driven many cars and interviewed many people in half a century in the business.

Cropley, who regards himself as the magazine’s “long stop”, has seen many changes since Autocar was a print-only affair, but claims that in such a fast moving environment he has little appetite for looking back.

He has been surprised and delighted by the generous reception afforded the My Week In Cars podcast he makes with long suffering colleague Matt Prior, and calls it the most enjoyable part of his working week.