What makes working for our engineering division great, and what’s it like to be part of it? Check out Colby’s blog entry!
So if you’re wondering who the mastermind behind this bit of writing is, my name is Colby, I’m 24 years young and I was born and raised in the place we call ‘Brum’. I am an adult trainee with Monarch Engineering, set to become a Mechanic this June. My plan is then to move on to do my B license and become a Technician.
During my time at Tudor Grange School in Solihull, I won’t deny that I had no clue as to what I wanted to do with my life regarding a career path or job. But then – who does? Unless, that is, you thought you were going to be Birmingham City FC’s new midfielder (there were too many of them!). It was only after I took business studies that I realised I was pretty good at fixing things and decided that engineering was going to be the way forward for me. I started working for a civil engineering company and bing-bang-bong, that’s where life in the fast lane began!
I’ve been asked to tell you when my passion for aircraft started…honestly? I’m still waiting for that day, ha ha! But I chose to work for Monarch for a few reasons; whilst working on Birmingham’s runway with my old company, I used to watch the new Monarch hangar being built and the planes rolling in and out each day and decided a career change was probably on the cards for me; that, and the fact that my girlfriend is Cabin Crew and wouldn’t stop telling me interesting stories about her job and industry. Although these things swayed me towards aircraft engineering, what really made me apply for Monarch was that the engineering side of the company was doing extremely well, and I felt that I could benefit from working for such a large and well-structured company.
My biggest achievement since starting for Monarch two years ago has to be getting through the interview and getting to where I am now. Everyone knows starting a new job is daunting and believe me, starting here was no different. I spent seven weeks in Luton with a group of adult trainees and I had an absolute blast, I learnt so much in such little time and made some friends for life along the way. Since I started, I’ve been lucky enough to experience so many different areas in the engineering world. In line maintenance I dealt with live aircraft, solving defect problems for flight crew and cabin issues for cabin crew; I also used my Worldhost skills to make some of the passengers laugh (even at 4am!) At the hangar, my day to day role consists of working with groups of skilled engineers to maintain a fleet of aircraft varying from heavy maintenance such as engine changes and cabin configuration changes right through to harnessing up and hanging off the end of the tail changing light bulbs.
Along with all the fun times I have when I go into work, occasionally I have to face some pretty tough challenges – and time is definitely one of the key ones! My main challenge is to gain a good understanding of the aircraft on a whole, not just the engine or the landing gear but everything, so at some point I have knowledge of all areas of the aircraft types I work on. It’s so satisfying when you get the aircraft you’ve been working on all night out onto the line and watch it take off to Spain, knowing that ‘bird’ is flying safely partly thanks to you!
This job is so different from your average 9-5. One day you could be working on the top of a vertical stabiliser changing static discharge wicks and the next you could be on a flight to Tenerife to assist in a tech issue down route. There really is no day the same. Through all the ups and downs that we all face in our jobs I have to say that I am so proud to have achieved the things I have since starting working with Monarch and the pros definitely outweigh the cons. I now look forward to telling people what my job is when they ask and I won’t lie, I feel like a right chap! And not to mention all the destinations that Monarch fly to that I get to go to on holidays at a lovely staff discounted rate – my personal favourite is still Palma de Majorca, a beautiful beach destination coupled with the best sangria you’ll have ever tasted.
To wrap this essay up I have to ask you, if you’ve got the drive to learn a new skill and develop it by listening to the highly skilled talent that we’ve got working here to one day become one of those people yourself then all I can say is…what’s stopping you? I know that pushing myself into doing this was the best choice I’ve ever made, it’s opened my mind to a new and exciting career. You’ll never go home again and be asked ‘What did you do at work today?’ and reply with ‘same old, same old’.
Are you interested in starting a new career and would like to know more about the roles available at Monarch Engineering? Visit our new careers portal here.