Everything appealed to me about the job, in that I’d be meeting different people each day, being out and about and having a large amount of responsibility.
Everyone is so friendly and although what they do is serious they manage to do most things with a smile. From the start I was made to feel really welcome and have been offered support from day one. It helped me settle in really well.
My typical day? Get up, breakfast, shave, brush teeth. You asked for that! Essentially you work from home, I’ve now reached the stage where I am doing this most days so I pick up my jobs for the day at home at around half seven, and head straight out as soon as I know where I’m going. Usually I’ll be onsite at my first job for about 8. The best thing about this job is that you never have two days the same, every job is different, whether it be a locate stop tap for a customer, a small leak on a meter or a great big burst that’s taken a whole town off water, you never know what’s round the corner.
My training
The biggest challenge has been getting the confidence to do what I’ve been trained to do on my own. A lot is learned onsite but only a certain amount can be explained. When you’re learning the theory and getting to grips with the equipment in a training environment it gives you a lot better understanding. I found after doing most training that I felt a lot more confident the next time I carried out that activity on the network.
So it’s enjoyable, secure and different…in a good way. Being first onsite on a big burst is always fun too. My biggest achievement is probably doing my first standby only a few months after I started.
In the short term I want to complete my City and Guilds certificate and NVQ level 2. Long term, I’m not sure yet - the scope is huge.
What I love about the company
I’d say to anyone thinking of joining, you’ll get out what you put in. The job can be really rewarding, no two days are the same and you effectively manage your own time. The summer is always good too as there is nothing better than working with water when its really hot!