After 12 years’ service in the Royal Engineers, the former Sergeant decided to leave and look for a new career path. Back at camp, Michael Biddulph was a Recce Sergeant in an Armoured Engineer Squadron. His role in barracks was the management of the Troops kit and equipment, which included T2 (Trojan & Titan), Bulldog and CVRT tanks. It was his responsibility to make sure the kit and equipment was serviced, maintained and ready for exercise/training requirements. He would also assist the Troop Staff Sergeant in the everyday managing of the Troop. On exercise or in the field, Michael’s role was to support the Recce group and offer Engineering support in complex situations, such as obstacle crossings or enemy defence structures. A typical day in Michael’s role would consist of organising and delegating maintenance tasks to be carried out on the Troop’s vehicles and equipment. This would consist of liaising with REME fitter sections and vehicle commanders, to ensure the work would be carried out to a high standard. Other responsibilities included making sure there were spare parts ordered and made available, as well as recording all work carried out on an electronic system called
JAMES (Joint Asset Management and Engineering Solutions). During Michael’s military career, he learnt the following key skills which he is now using in his civilian site role:

• Teamwork: working with different people from different backgrounds every day; Michael’s ability to adapt and be able to work with different groups of people on a daily basis has helped him immensely in his civilian role.
• Planning & Organisation: working to a programme, requires a lot of planning and forward thinking to ensure the programme remains on target. Trades and materials need to be organised to arrive on site in the correct order and on time, this ensures the build sequence stays in the correct order and the on-site materials are used when ordered to stop loss of important space on construction sites.
• Problem solving: ability to listen to the ideas of his peers and come up with a solution to the problem has outweighed his lack of site knowledge and experience. Bringing people together and sharing ideas to solve a problem is a great skill learnt from his time in the Army.

Michael secured his role as a construction manager for Barnwood Construction following a work placement organised by BuildForce. He feels the work placement was the greatest support of his transition to ‘civvie street’ and would recommend a placement to anyone during their resettlement regardless of the job role they are looking for. The biggest challenge, Michael faced during his transition was not understanding his skillset and his real value to a potential employer. More CV and interview guidance would have meant an easier transition.

In Michael’s new role, he is responsible for ensuring site safety and conducting safety inspections, quality control & assurance, material orders and managing the programme and monitoring progress.

In Michael’s own words a typical day might involve the following:

• Site inductions to operatives who are new to the site, followed by a site walk to ensure H&S standards are being adhered to, check work progress, quality standards and liaise with site operatives to solve any problems or issues.
• Materials and orders need to be made and deliveries checked and accounted for. Information needs to be gathered through drawings, specifications and emails, then distributed to the operatives on site.
• The programme needs to be checked and any issues need to be raised through line management. Progress meetings need to be conducted with site supervisors and any problems or issues need to be raised and solved.
• Paperwork needs to be kept up to date including RAMS, permits to work and inspection sheets.
• General organising of materials and sub-contractors to ensure safety is maintained and works are kept on programme.

Michael feels skills such as organising and planning, effective communication and being proactive learnt through his military career have facilitated his new role.

When asked what advice he would give to someone leaving the Armed Forces looking to pursue a career in construction, he replied:

“Explore all options and opportunities construction has to offer. There are many different job roles within the sector. Don’t just look at what happens on a site, there’s so much more to construction than a building site and there are a variety of opportunities available. Don’t be scared to ask questions, if you don’t understand, people in construction are more than happy
to help you out.”

When asked what 3 words the former Royal Engineer would use to describe a career in
construction, he responded:

Camaraderie, hard-work, satisfying.