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Job Role: Apprentice Gas Engineer
Julia, aged 22, works for Brian King, a self-employed plumbing and heating engineer. It is a small business based in Grimsby, which concentrates its work in the North East Lincolnshire area. The business is within the construction sector providing a service for domestic customers. There are three employees within the business: Brian King, Frances King (secretary and book keeper)and Julia.
Julia is an apprentice gas engineer and has worked for the business for a year. Her day-to-day tasks include boiler service and repair, boiler installations and landlord gas safety checks. All gas appliances supplied by landlords in rented properties are required by law to be checked for safety on an annual basis. This involves a visual inspection of each appliance (eg central heating boiler, gas fire, gas cooker), checking the flues, the operating pressure, safety devices and ventilation provision. When each safety check is complete Brian and Julia have to provide each landlord and tenant with a copy of a certificate which details all the appliance inspections.
Julia enjoys the practical side of the job and meeting new people. She explains "Every day is different in my job so it's interesting and I never have the chance to get bored, but this also means there's a lot to learn.
There is a huge safety aspect that comes with my job because in the wrong circumstances gas can be very dangerous. This is why it requires a lot of research and not being afraid to ask questions. There is a big theory part as well as the practical, which requires me to complete a portfolio for college about work I have been witnessed carrying out".
The hours Julia works are varied. She works Monday to Friday (except the one day a week when she is at Grimsby Institute) and starts work any time from 8am, working through the day until all the jobs are finished, usually around 4.30 -5.00 pm.
Julia says, "It is of great benefit in my job to have a driving licence as I travel to various different jobs throughout the day and carry all my tools in a van, but whilst being a gas engineer apprentice, a corgi registered person must accompany you at work so during that time a driving licence is not necessarily needed".
Julia left school at 16 and attended Franklin Sixth Form College in Grimsby to do a GNVQ in IT. After completing this course she went to work for NatWest Bank, spending a year at the Louth branch and then a year at the Grimsby branch. However, Julia began to feel that she would prefer something more practical as she had never been keen to work in an office environment.
Julia had always wanted to work in the construction industry but had initially been put off as she was worried that there would not be many other women to work with. She considered taking up a plumbing course at Grimsby Institute, but her enquiry revealed that the Institute were starting a new 2 year course in domestic gas engineering and after consideration, Julia decided to follow this route. Each student had to have a placement with a gas engineering/plumbing company before being accepted on to the course; Julia was very fortunate in being able to get a placement with her father's business as it can be difficult to find an employer who will take on an apprenticeship or provide a placement.
She is the only woman on the course but her initial concerns about this have been unfounded. Julia believes that waiting until she was a bit older and had more confidence before starting this job has been of benefit.
Julia says "I now wonder what I was worried about. I enrolled on a gas course at Grimsby Institute which I attend one day a week. I spend the rest of the working week with Brian King. The course I am on at college requires the student to have an employer in order to carry out their apprenticeship and lasts for two to three years. I aim to become corgi registered, which will enable me to work on gas appliances on my own".
Julia is very positive about the route she has taken and the work she is now doing:
"I would encourage any person who is practical and keen to enquire about this job, especially women. It's important to be practical, enjoy problem solving, have good communication skills and be thorough in your work if you want to become an Apprentice Gas Engineer. There are very few women in this industry and the response I have had from customers and other students has been really positive".
Julia had been working for 2 years before starting her gas engineering apprenticeship and was used to a regular wage. She was determined however to make a clean break from banking so when she first started her gas course, she took an early morning shift at the local Tesco to supplement her income. Once she had been on the course for a few months her commitment began to pay off and Brian was able to employ her on a full-time basis as his apprentice, so she was able to stop the Tesco work.
