Despatches May 07

National Engineering & Construction Recruitment Exhibition

The National Engineering & Construction Recruitment Exhibition (NECR), at the NEC, Birmingham on 11th and 12th May 2007, offers the chance for experienced professionals to explore the many career opportunities available in the engineering and construction industries.

A wide range of well-known organisations are due to exhibit at this spring’s event. Many leading employers will be actively recruiting at the two-day exhibition; including Aker Kvaerner, Alstom, Amey, BAE Systems, EADS, E.ON UK, GlaxoSmithKline, Honda, MW Kellogg, Schlumberger, Technip, Thales, Transport for London and Zurich. Visitors will be able to meet face-to-face with potential new employers across industries that include aerospace, automotive, mechanical, manufacturing, process and defence, construction, civil and structural engineering, and facilities management.

There will also be a range of advisory services on offer, like the CV Clinic, where recruitment specialists will be on hand to provide expert tips on how to design a CV that will make maximum impact, or the Interview Clinic, where interview techniques can be practised and honed.

Jason Miller, Project Manager of the Exhibition, comments: ‘With so many successful and prominent organisations converging together in one place, this exhibition provides an indispensable opportunity for those planning or researching their next career move. The range of advice and services available mean that a visit to NECR will be one of the most valuable and productive days of the year, and one that could see attendees successfully taking the next step in their career.’

For a full list of recruiters, further information on features, and details on parking and travel subsidies for full time students, visit www.engineerjobs.co.uk or see advertisement on page 30.

Emergency care for everyone

Providing emergency care to a person to save or restore their life has a rewarding outcome leaving the rescuer feeling proud and fulfilled they were trained and confident to step forward to provide CPR and first aid. Of course positive outcomes aren’t always the result of providing care in a life threatening emergency, but friends, family, work colleagues and the public stand a far better chance of making a recovery if a trained lay rescuer acts while the emergency services are on their way.

So just imagine how fulfilling it would be to be the one who trains lay rescuers to be competent and confident in those skills. It is the professional first aid instructors who pass on the CPR and first aid knowledge and skills. They are the facilitators, without whom lay rescuers would not exist. Be it at home, at work or at play, accidents and illnesses happen. Lay rescuers are the vital first link in the chain of survival.

Teaching the public to react appropriately when faced with an illness or injury is not only a very rewarding and fulfilling profession; it is also a high demand industry. In the UK alone, due to the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981, CPR and first aid training is required in workplaces with retraining required at regular intervals. Not only is the first aid industry a profitable one to be involved in, but first aid instructors are involved in transforming peoples lives. What a great business(see advertisement on page 8).

New courses in aerospace design aim to boost aircraft maintenance opportunities

Concerned by the lack of design staff available to meet their own needs and that of the aviation industry in general, Marshall Aerospace (see advertisement on page 47) have developed three resettlement training courses aimed at providing aircraft and avionics maintainers the skills necessary to fill this need. Building on Service experience, they bridge the gap between maintainer and designer; a career which has traditionally attracted higher salaries.

Their Avionics Systems Design and Computer Aided Design (CAD) with Design Principals programme will not only teach CAD, using industry standard tools; but will provide the understanding necessary to carry out a project from bid through its full development and certification to delivery of an airworthy aircraft. This is complemented by a Safety Management with Design Principles course that examines safety theory and shows how it applies it to all stages of the design process.

Marshall Aerospace will be recruiting directly from the course. They will also work with Forces Recruitment Service Ltd, a specialist Consultancy for ex-Forces personnel, to help all other candidates who attend this training to obtain placements in the industry.

Marshall are holding a briefing day on 17th May, at their facility in Cambridge, to outline the programme and opportunities available. The courses will run from July. For further details call Ian Roberts on 01223 373452 or Graham Brown on 01353 645004.

Providing practical business knowledge for Service leavers

Woodward SHE Ltd (see advertisement on page 61) has launched a new course aimed at those leaving the Forces. The Diploma in Business Competence (EBCL) is accredited by ITEC at Level 3 in the National Qualifications Framework. It is designed for people who want to work in business management roles such as health and safety or environmental management, but who find understanding of financial and legal functions difficult.

At Woodward SHE Ltd a great deal of feedback has been received from people in the resettlement process who are studying with them that they were having difficulties at job interviews. These individuals were well prepared to deal with questions in the specialist area in which they had trained, but when more general questions were asked about such things as the financial and legal aspects of business, they faced considerable problems.

The company says that: ‘This new course will give those undergoing resettlement the knowledge to be able to answer those types of questions with confidence at interview. The new course is run twice a year for five consecutive days (Monday to Friday), with a residential option if required. Within this time the formal assessment paper is also completed.

‘By the end of the course, delegates will:

l Have a better understanding of the importance of the financial and legal aspects of business;

l Have a deeper understanding of how a business functions;

l Know how to operate a business or department more effectively.’

E-mail info@woodwardgroup.co.uk or call phone 01228-592614 for details

From RAF policeman to civil celebrant

When Warrant Officer Chris Howe left the Service in January 2006 after a 31-year career, he had intended to focus on complementary therapy with taking civil funerals as a sideline. But their popularity is so great that they have become the greater part of a new – and entirely different – career.

Aged 49, he had served in the UK, Germany and Cyprus, with operational experience, and had been awarded a Commander in Chief’s Commendation. He also held a Bachelor of Science Degree, a Diploma in Applied Social Sciences, and a Life Coaching qualification; ‘as well as experience in dealing with people, training and presentations and taking control in difficult situations.’ Primary reasons for leaving were ‘to provide stability for my family and embark upon a new career.’

An ‘excellent’ Career Transition Workshop led to another ‘excellent’ course in becoming a civil registrant run by Civil Training Ltd. Howe’s own research led to this unusual occupation, and he is now also a member of the Institute of Civil Funerals. ‘Working closely with Funeral Directors,’ he explains, ‘I provide personal, bespoke funerals. I interview the family and, in accordance with their wishes, construct a funeral service which I then deliver. The central part of any civil funeral is the tribute to the deceased; this is what makes them so personal and so increasingly popular.

He much enjoys the ‘opportunity to help people at a very difficult time,’ and continues ‘not to know what situation I’m next going to encounter. I now work completely for myself. I choose which jobs to take and I know that my success or failure as a celebrant rests wholly with me.’ While earnings are down, ‘the satisfaction rate is greater.’ see advertisement on page 55.