What made you look for a new career?
Due to the pandemic, I was, like a lot of others, made redundant so forced to go on the hunt for a new job. With the motor industry also changing massively with the new plan for all cars to be electric by 2030 meant there wasn’t really a future where I was, so I started looking into other areas.
After speaking with a friend, they suggested looking into the construction industry as it seemed like a steady industry that will always need people.
The construction industry has also started to go through some changes recently due to more regulations and compliances for contractors, which means there’s a need for more technical roles and data analysis.
What made you apply for the job?
At first, I wasn’t too sure what kind of jobs to apply for, so I applied for junior project management/ coordinator roles and eventually found Opex looking for a technical person with data analysis skills.
I looked into the role and saw it was for a facilities management company, but I didn’t know much about facilities management. After doing some research on what facilities management is I thought it was strange that this sector needed technical project coordinators.
“Not until I started working for Opex did I realise how much the industry needs data and analysis people like myself who enjoy analysing data and coming up with solutions to problems.”
What did you expect when joining the team?
From reading the job description I noticed it was very similar to what I was doing in the automotive industry, just in a different industry.
How do you see your career development with Opex?
Having familiarised myself with what Facilities Management is all about and what it involves, I would like to see development into a Project Management role where I can benefit from my background in Engineering, apply some Project management framework and methodology and spend time on sites working more closely with clients and understand their issues.
What would you say to someone looking into facilities management?
If you enjoy problem solving, are data driven and a good communicator a job at Opex might be for you.
There’s always a variety of jobs to switch between so you’re never just stuck on one project.
The industry comes across a lot of obstacles due to compliances and laws so there’s always a need for people who can envisage improvements in order to help those in the industry become safe and compliant.
