Career Ladder talks to the FM at G4S

Career Ladder talks to the FM at G4S

Q: What was your first ever job?
My very first job was as a lifeguard at a hotel leisure club in Aberdeen, Scotland at the age of 17, I always wanted a career in Leisure.

Q: What was your first job in the FM sector?
My first job within FM was as the Sports Centre manager for a large PFI school based in East London

Q: When did you first hear the term ‘facilities management’? And what did you think it meant then?
During my time at the University of Wales Swansea, I was aware of the estates department and the term facilities management was widely used, I had a good understanding of the services they provided to the campus and its offsite departments, it was only when I moved to London that I actually stumbled into FM as my future career path, via my career to date in Leisure.

Q: What made you choose FM as a career ?
FM found me!.. I had always wanted to work in Leisure and was happy doing so, FM and Leisure became entwined for me following my appointment as centre manager at a large PFI school, from there I was gripped and wanted to develop my career within FM, luckily for me the majority of my FM roles to date have been within the education sector which I have loved.

Q: How did you progress through the profession to your current role?
Having spent so much time in Leisure, my ambition was always to strive to be the general manager of my own centre, this happened in 2004, it just so happened to be a PFI school linked to FM, within nine months I was promoted to contracts manager, I remained there until 2008 whereby I undertook a contract managers role for another company on a bigger contract in Twickenham & Richmond until 2012, followed by a facilities managers role in Souhwark and finally now the facilities manager/contract manager for my existing employer based in Holborn, London.

Q: Do you have any qualifications or training in FM? And how have you benefited from them?
I honestly do not think my career would have developed the way that it has over the past 12 years, if it wasn’t for the variety of training made available to me by all of my past employers, I have never turned down an opportunity for training and am always looking at new ways to improve my skill sets. I have a natural leadership style and am considered to be a good communicator with strong man-management skills, these personal attributes along with career training to date allows me to be able to work with my teams and assist them with their own development, whilst establishing strong relationships with my clients.

Q: What was your worst ever interview?
I applied for a leisure role at a prestigious college and was unsuccessful, probably because I commented on the interviewer’s attire as I left the interview….Not a very clever move!.. Not made the same mistake since.

Q: What was the best job that you never got?
I have been quite lucky that the majority of jobs I have applied for I have been successful in, however I did apply for a job at Morden College, (their purpose is to help older people by offering either a home for independent living, a home for supported living, or 24/7 residential care with nursing) and was unsuccessful. I was shortlisted to the last two candidates, I had recently lost my mum to cancer when I applied and wanted to give something back to the care community, this has been the only job that I was genuinely sad not to have been successful in, “I wanted to make a difference, and give something back.”

Q: What is your greatest contribution to the FM sector, or your current role?
I believe in visibility, I believe in working with your clients to ensure that the service delivery is at its highest standards possible and that they trust me! For me it’s all about working in partnership and having a passion about your contracts and wanting to make them grow, I have achieved this in all of my contracts to date.

Q: What’s changed most since you started in FM?
Simply…..Everything!!! The opportunities now within FM are huge, so many different sectors and so many global locations for an individual to choose from, it’s certainly a strong industry and one that’s ever changing, no day is the same nor does it need to be, as an FM professional I now have clear visibility of future opportunities open and available to me if I so choose to do so.

Q: If you could do one thing differently in your career in FM, what would it be?
Entered into FM earlier than I did, and possibly work overseas.

Q: What would make the biggest difference to the FM sector? And how can that be achieved?
Removal of PFI contracts, for me they do not work; very few are financially stable and most have unhappy clients, contracts that are over complicated and too many organisations with fingers in the same pie. A review of the entire education sector is needed and possibly FM is not the correct industry to progress it.

Q: What advice would you give to young people coming into the profession now?
Review all sectors, do your research and develop your strengths, it’s a crazy world in FM, it’ll be a bit like marmite, you’ll either love it or hate it.

Q: Who’s your mentor (either in FM or outside) and why?
I don’t really have a mentor, I am very self driven and extremely independent. I work incredibly hard to provide a good life for my family and I have support from friends when needed and still keep in contact with previous line managers who have assisted me over the years with my career progression/opportunities.

Q: What qualities should a good FM possess?
Professional, courteous, responsible, sense of humor, good communicator, knowledgeable and a team player.

Q: What are your long-term goals for the next seven to ten years?
For now I am very happy at my current contract and do not see myself looking to move. A move back to South Wales is always an option depending on how the FM market grows there, perhaps a slight change in direction in future roles, I would like to possibly work in Business Development… “To be continued”.