Give a description of a day in the life of an apprentice technician

We arrive on site to clock in at 8am, by which point there has been a shift tech on site for around 2 hours, so the first thing we usually do is check the shift notes. This is a key part of the communication between shift handovers and the day technicians. Following this, I will usually open up the plan to see if any jobs have been given to me for the day (these jobs will usually be preventative maintenance). The day then consists of these jobs and any reactive work that appears simultaneously, with the reactive work usually taking priority to get the site back up and running again. This is where, in my opinion, the satisfaction and adrenaline of maintaining such a plant becomes apparent, rushing to find the deviation, using all your skills, opening coding programmes, looking at electrical drawing or mechanical assemblies, it’s a completely unique feeling. Coming towards the end of the day, we tend to close any jobs we have completed so that the planner is aware of what has been done, and we finally clock out and head home for around 16:40.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of pursuing this career?

Personally, I thought about the things that made my life pleasurable, going on to seek out opportunities in those areas. It’s so important to have passion in your job, working in an industry involved with the things you love makes it so much easier. You never work a day in your life if you love your job right?

How long have you been doing your job?

I have been in this position now for just over 2 years, where in my first year I was fully trained off site, so that when I came to site, I had the foundation knowledge I needed to build stronger knowledge in a variety of areas. This first year on site has been incredible for me, delving further into the complexity of the processes that we work through to produce the drinks everyone knows and loves.

If you could give your 16 year old self some career advice, what would it be?

Simply slow down and take the time you need to let things progress as they should. I thought I had it all figured out at 16, a carer path in place with a steady salary, but that was suddenly put to a holt. The panic made me decide on something that didn’t end up being the most useful in where I ended up. However, if this is a showcase of anything, it is that it all works out how it should and that panic that you feel is a completely natural part of the process!