Mikey Garbutt served with the REME for 12 years, leaving with the rank of Corporal. “My primary role while serving was a Class 1 Vehicle Mechanic, with tours to Afghanistan and peace keeping operations in Mali, West Africa. I was also deployed to Canada, Kenya, the Falklands and Germany. During my career I worked on various pieces of equipment from quadbikes to Mastiffs, Jackles and Foxhounds.
Later in my career I was placed in the Inspections department, inspecting and creating job cards for work to be completed on the fleet of vehicles my unit held. My final two years of my career I was a Training Instructor at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate. This was a role as a Section Commander to young individuals guiding and mentoring them through their basic training.
A typical day was taking and presenting various lessons to 16/17-year-old recruits. This could be anything from fieldcraft lessons, to ranges or battlefield casualty drills, ensuring they were taking in the knowledge both practical and theory.
Whilst serving I earned my NVQ Level 4 in Vehicle Maintenance, NVQ level 4 Leadership and Management, NVQ level 3 Coaching and Mentoring, ADR qualification, First Aid at Work. I also gained a number of other military qualifications like Train the Trainer which do not translate into the civilian world. I managed to secure my current civilian role by having my leadership and management qualification as well as the experience I gained from working at AFC Harrogate.
My current job role is Foreman, and I work for Kier Group. I applied myself online on LinkedIn, held an interview with Kier and they offered me the job as foreman. I gained my NEBOSH Environment and Construction during my resettlement which also helped sweeten the deal.
I signed up to BuildForce, they supported the process and gave advice throughout. Linkedin was also invaluable while I was transitioning. I was networking with various ex-military through the Linkedin site which gave me reassurance that this was the right path to take. There are plenty of people offering really good advice and knowledge and were willing to help me with my CV and interviews.
I found it was more the unknown I struggled with, as I’m not from a construction background I didn’t know what it was going to be like or if I’d fit into the job. I applied for a lot of jobs that I WAS qualified for with plenty of experience and I never managed to get an interview for any of the jobs. As soon as I applied with Kier, something I had zero experience in, they gave me the opportunity for an interview, which led to a job offer shortly after. Use BuildForce to upskill on the industry, to update your CV so it aligns with what construction employers are looking for. They’ll guide you through.
I would like to have seen more support from the army side of things, I was in a very busy job role, instead of moving me somewhere quieter, I was juggling working long hours, with duties over weekends etc as well as trying to transition to civilian street and complete my NEBOSH qualifications.
Part of my new job is managing subcontractors, making sure they are doing the work correctly and safely as per Kier guidelines and rules. I am also responsible for completing site inductions and managing any deliveries that come in and making sure all site diaries are completed to log the work that gets carried out.
Currently a typical day involves managing the work the subcontractors do, making sure the lads are happy and content with the work they have on for the day. Completing any site inductions to visitors to the site, as well as taking progress photos and keeping the site diary up to date with the work that goes on daily.
Some of the transferable skills I use often include being an open person, allowing people to come and ask questions, the confidence to say if something doesn’t look right, or to ask questions myself if I am unsure of something. Coming into an industry that isn’t familiar, it’s important to have the confidence to ask if I don’t understand something.
My advice would be, go on, take that jump, the guys on site that I work with have supported me throughout. Guiding me along, letting me ask the questions, and also getting me on training courses in order for me to do my job efficiently. If a military vehicle mechanic can jump into the industry like I have, anyone can do it, it’s a very similar environment to what we’re already used to which makes the transition easier.
I would describe a career in construction as rewarding, and challenging, with continuous learning.”