Apprentices are the lifeblood of businesses today and Bisley is no exception; we’ve employed and supported apprentices for over 20 years now. To celebrate our apprentices, we met up with some of them to find out more about their life at Bisley.
Today we get to know Jaime Thomas. Jaime is a second-year Maintenance apprentice. His team repair machines which have broken down and gets them up and running again as soon as possible. They also perform routine checks, take measures to prevent break downs from occurring and service the machines to prolong their running life.
Can you give me a summary of what you do?
My main focus in my job is project work and breakdowns. Sometimes I do little jobs, such as fixing any leaks on machines that might occur, which is fairly straightforward. I also help with bigger jobs where I have to work with a few of my team members to get our machines up and running. I’m constantly learning though so I’m able to do more and more things on my own as my apprenticeship goes on.
What are your main responsibilities?
Handling calls from the radio and helping to repair machines. Other than that, I’ll be working on a project with one of the other team members; we’re currently building a control panel for the new blower system in the Powder Plant Four section of our factory.
Why did you choose an apprenticeship in Maintenance?
I wasn’t always working in Maintenance, as when I first started working at Bisley, I was doing an apprenticeship in Production Engineering. It turned out that this wasn’t really right for me so I decided that I wanted to focus on Maintenance instead. When I moved into my new department, I had to learn entirely new skills like the different ways of fixing machines, but the knowledge I had previously gained made transferring into this department easier. I really like working in Maintenance and I’m glad I chose to change departments.
How do you handle all the tasks you’re given at work?
Working in Maintenance, we can occasionally get a high number calls for us to go service and fix our machines, so it’s all about how you handle the calls. If you get a few calls at once, you have to decide which task is the most important and has to be dealt with immediately, finish it as quickly and smoothly as possible, and move on to the next one right away. You have to work out which task takes the highest priority and arrange the rest of your work around that.
What is your favourite Bisley product and why?
It would have to be ToolStor from our industrial storage line. It’s very sturdy and gives me lots of space to store the tools I use every day.
What object or tool could you not live without at work?
My socket set or multi-metre are always really helpful tools.
What’s it like to work and study at the same time?
It’s all about balance and setting aside a good amount of time to do your college work. I find most of my college courses really interesting, especially anything with a mathematical element to it, so it’s easy to focus on and do well on my assignments.
How have you changed throughout your apprenticeship?
I’ve learned about the world of work and how to be successful in a working environment.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I like to play rugby for my local team and go to the gym. I’ve been playing rugby practically all my life, as I started when I was about four or five.
If you were a crayon in a crayon box, what colour would you be and why?
Green, because it’s my favourite colour.