Operator Skills Hub’s Post

Transcript

Hello, my name is Gareth. Are you seeing the Royal Air Force? And now I'm a tractor driver and the construction industry. My role was pretty much anything to do with getting the equipment for sort of RF assets being looked after it. We distributed it, my specialised whilst I was there in like fuels and like tactical fuels and light fixed wing fuelling. Often this meant being in austere locations, you know you had to dig in often uncomfortable, but we're allowed to sort of achieve a role as it gets to a point in the Royal Air Force where I felt like I was going around in a bit of a circle. I was like sort of repeating. Sort of roles and trades and that I didn't really wanna do. I was more of a hands on kind of guy. I enjoyed tactical supply wing. I enjoyed being out in the open. I, you know, hands on with the kit. I didn't really want to be desk based sort of in a store somewhere. So I thought, you know, the time would come. Maybe I've I've done I've done my time. 12 years is enough. And let's see what challenge is sort of silly streak we like to call it. See what I asked the face. I struggled massively when I left the armed forces, so I found myself reverting back to sort of route one. What could I do? So I thought lorry driving and got my lorry licences. However work life balance wasn't there. That just wasn't going to give me my families work life balance that I sort of strive for. And realistically what I left the military for, I felt like I was literally driving my life away. I was going online, I had a Google of the government skills boot camp and I stumbled across a plant operator. Boot camp and I thought OK, I should click on that. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and then here I am today. I'm trying to given is very structured, very much like the like the military and you get a guaranteed interview and if the back of that you could be out on site operating that piece of kit. You've just done a skills book camping and get that purpose back again in life. First downs like was nerve wracking. I felt like a little fish in like a massive pond went down there and I was instantly met by a Flannery trainer who just instantly put me at ease. Show me the piece of kit. Show me my tractor and what I was expected to do. I did buy inductions. Inside and then that was it was out on a piece of kit and I was working. I hit the ground running and I didn't look back. I have definitely made the right career transition. Everything work life balance, money. I've doubled my salary from the military. I haven't got to give up as many hours a week though. When I was truck driving. I haven't got all go away. When I was in the military. Four months, 6 month tours no longer longer exists. Monday to Friday can work a Saturday if I want for that extra bit of money. The work life balance is just perfect for me. I had massive fears, you know, you know, I didn't know what to expect really coming from the military and you know, the fundamentals they put into, you know, you could be, you feel comfortable being uncomfortable and you know, you can adapt, overcome and just whatever is in front of you, you can just face it. I'm progressing industry at the moment. I've been on site for seven months using my tractor skills that I gained on the skills Boot camp. I'm currently looking at learning more attachments on the tractor. And in the future I'm looking at doing another skills boot camp, hopefully going to do telehandler. The skills boot camp can help ex military hugely. I found in my very short time in construction, around about seven months now, that the construction industry is absolutely full of military veterans. And I like the idea of being Batman lads on a construction site and integrating the regimented, disciplined, on time for polite everything that was instilled from day one. The construction industry want and I would say just do it. You know if you deploy to random places all around the world at the moment to notice and this is easy, get online, sign up to it and just do it.