Hi, I’m Dan and I am a Service Engineer at Goodwater.
When I joined the company as a Trainee Engineer back in November 2016 I came with no water treatment or water hygiene knowledge at all, so in effect I was starting from scratch.
I fitted in really quickly, everyone was really friendly and welcoming and I was immediately put at ease which was great as I was a bit apprehensive starting a new job.
I was kitted out in the company uniform and went out each day with different members of the engineering team, getting to know them and experiencing the really varied service work Goodwater do, ranging from water sampling, tank cleaning and using test kits to test heating systems, to servicing of water softeners and other types of equipment.
Every day was different as we visited hospitals, schools, hotels and other buildings all over the place, mostly in and around London and the home counties.
The Technical team spent time early on to establish my knowledge and experience which, as I said, was basically beginner level, and then I started to receive training – a mixture of classroom work in the Academy training room and out on site getting to grips with everything and learning how to be an engineer, which included how to write up service reports.
When I gained enough experience to handle basic tasks on my own I was given a company van and started to make my own way, but still with the support of my Manager and the Technical team.
My training is very much ongoing as, in this industry, you never know everything there is to know and each day throws up problems that need solving - which is great for maintaining my interest in the role.
I am progressing well technically and have been developing my knowledge of equipment so I can take on more complex service tasks and troubleshoot more effectively.
On a personal level I am getting more responsibility and last year I became the deputy team leader in one of our three site teams which I was very proud of as I made it through my own efforts.
But the icing on the cake this year was when I came Runner Up in the Outstanding Achievement Award at our AGM – hopefully next year I’ll win the big prize!
A Day in the Life…
It is normally an early start to beat the traffic and so we can aim to arrive at our first site for 8.30am. We may spend the whole day on the same site or may go to several depending on how long each job takes is. Tank disinfection can take a few hours but we can be in and out quickly if it is a sampling visit for example.
Before we leave site we fill in the necessary paperwork on the reporting app, hit send and they arrive instantly in the hub for our Ops team to download for the customer.
At the end of my day I take a trip to our laboratory or one of locations around the south to drop off the water samples we have taken that day for testing. And most days I try to call in to the office to collect any parts or chemicals etc needed for the next day, catch up with colleagues and maybe do some training.
Our jobs appear each day on the planner app on our phones and if we ever have any issues we can always call our Operations team for assistance.
Every day is different with different challenges to face, and sometimes we finish early, sometimes later which is just the nature of the job. I always feel like I put in a shift each day but also feel the company appreciate my efforts, and each month I am in with a chance of winning the top engineer award which motivates me to always do my best.
“Goodwater is a warm and welcoming company with fantastic facilities, training and colleagues making it the perfect place to work.”
Dan
