What is your role and what does it involve?
My role is Engineering Geologist, but I suppose I’m also considered a site engineer, a logger and on-site project manager. What it involves is, getting a site started from the mobilization all the way through to the demobilization whilst also registering everyone, completing daily journals, making sure things are being kept up to the given program, following the spec, making sure everyone’s doing what they’re supposed to be doing, environmental sampling, acting as the first aider and the logger unless I get another logger on site with me, then we both log. What else do I do? You know, I make the permits to dig and I help dig sometimes when needed, or just to get the other guys motivated when they’re feeling a little less so. What else do I do? I do quite a fair few things to be fair. I deal with all the paperwork I deal with collecting the drillers logs, making sure they match with how the day has gone, I speak with the client and with all of upper management and I’m kind of like the middle person between the site and what’s going on on-site and people outside of site, there are quite a few things.
How long have you been working at Concept?
It was November 2019. What’s that? Three years? Three years and seven months? Wow, that long!
Can you describe your career journey so far?
I was a kayak instructor for a bit and then I went on to university, college, and then started working at the hospital where I worked as a ward clerk and a library clerk for the maternity department. After that I went to university while still doing different shifts at the hospital and then I did that for a year after university and decided I need to use my degree. So, then I got a geologist job here at Concept where I became a graduate geologist and then after two years, they made me a full engineering geologist. I started running sites about a year and a half in and then ever since then I’ve just been doing the same thing, just running sites and then going, talking to everyone, doing questionnaires and yeah!
How would you describe a typical day in your role?
Typical day? It depends. It depends how it goes. If I’m dropping off samples, then dropping off samples first but could be showing up on the site, unlocking the welfare, making sure everyone’s arrived. Do a quick daily briefing toolbox talk once a week on anything to do with what’s happening on site. Generally, with this site it’s been rather muddy raining a lot so slipped trips and falls. Last week we did, I think this week, well tomorrow will probably be one on heat wave because it looks like it’s gonna be hot all week. After that, I make sure, well, the guys will know what they’re doing from the daily briefing, so they crack on with that. I crack on with signing everyone in, making sure the permits are up to date, catching up with anything I fell behind on the day before, making sure my engineer sample lists are ready to go, making sure all my collections are coming. But in general, I just follow around with the windows samplers or where any pitting is going as well and collect the samples and log those. That’s most of my day, and then towards the end of the day it’s carrying on with daily journals, keeping up with closing where they’re at and then closing up the sites really.
What do you think have been your biggest achievements so far in your career?
I think just in general becoming, well swapping from a graduate to a normal Engineering Geologist. Being trusted with sites. Other than that, I don’t think I would achieve much more.
What is your favourite part of your job?
My favourite part of the job is talking to be honest. I like that our company is rather a big mix of different types of people and we’re quite multicultural compared to other companies I’ve seen, and then because we’re quite a small company, everyone’s quite a lot closer than you would in a big company. So, I’m good friends with everyone down at Brunel Road and I’m becoming more friends with everyone up here in Coventry. I just, yeah, I just like that it’s very easy to talk to everyone, don’t have to be super formal about anything, which is a lot more my style.
What advice would you give to someone taking their first steps in the industry?
Take a breather. Just make a checklist of everything you’re doing and then just tik it off step by step. Environmental samples are the biggest struggle, so always pre write your journals out, otherwise you’re gonna lose hours a day just writing. Keep the drillers happy. Always keep drillers happy.
What do you think are the biggest challenges within the industry and what can we do to change this in going forward?
I think biggest challenge is quantity of jobs we have. So, just sort of the industry being understaffed. Bridging the skill gap within the industry as well and sort of getting people more interested in coming into the industry.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I live a lot. So, Are you ready? I like to forage. I like to climb. Sometimes, well, I snowboard once a year, but sometimes I go to an indoor snow sensor. I like to hang out with my cat. I like to play guitar. I make my own wine and mead. I like everything. I paddle board still a lot. I have more hobbies than I have time, which is the issue. I also like cooking slow cooking foods as well. So there’s not enough time in the day to do all the things I want!
What is a surprising fact that people might not know about you?
I’m an identical twin, actually. Yeah, not everybody knows. So, if you see a version of me with long hair walking around, although unlikely because he’s in Germany, its not me!