00:00:00 My name's Ben Yeates, I work as an electrician for the Wolverhampton Primary Care Trust. We carry out the maintenance on all the properties belonging to the PCT in the Wolverhampton area. It's such a varied job, you don't really get two days the same, it ranges from changing light bulbs to small installation work. There's a lot that we have to undertake, really, and it's our supervisor's job to decide whether we're capable or whether it needs to go out to an external contractor.
00:00:33 School life for me was a bit up and down. I started in a comprehensive school and then my parents divorced so I moved with my Dad and that meant that I moved to a different school, a private school which was a very different experience and not one that I enjoyed too much. Moving back into a comprehensive school after that two year period, I was a lot happier and a lot of the teachers connected with me, I suppose.
00:01:01 I actually looked up to them and their advice was very helpful. There was one teacher in particular, Miss Atkins, and she came up to me and she suggested that maybe because I wasn't happy at school and my grades were dropping that maybe it wasn't the right thing for me at that time and she suggested that I might go and travel or get away. She knew that I was having issues at home, so. I didn't do it instantly but a few months down the line, maybe six months down the line I took her advice and I went travelling for six months.
00:01:31 I went with my girlfriend at the time and went to Australia and New Zealand and there was probably a five week period within that six months that we spent in a place called Korindi. We'd go fruit picking in the morning and then in the afternoon we'd have a lot of time to think so I started putting a lot of thought into careers and what I was going to do when I got back because I wasn't going to be able to travel forever and I came up with just little things like I knew that I didn't want to be confined to an office and I wanted to have a hands on job and I started thinking along the lines of a trade.
00:02:07 Not specifically an electrician but maybe carpentry or something of the like. Obviously, when I got back I was going to search for work and I managed to get a job working for the Primary Care Trust on the doctor's reception and I got to know people, made friends within the Trust and that's how I found out about the apprenticeship to be an electrician. It was a lady called Ann Langford who sorted that out for me and she's been a lot of help along the way. She put me in touch with the estates department when they'd advertised for an apprenticeship which is how I ended up with the job as an electrician.
00:02:41 I went for an electrical apprenticeship which was three years and four years down the line here I am.
00:02:50 I suppose I've become more confident in myself and my abilities, that's probably my greatest achievement. I was never that confident as a child, so, as you grow you develop that. I've always been quite a practical person. From a young age I was taking watches apart and trying to put them back together and I think I took to this job quite well. I'd really like to progress within the department and I'd really like to take on more responsibility and be able to steer the direction that we choose.
00:03:21 So, what position that would be I'm not sure but definitely more responsibility. I think ambition is an understatement. I'd definitely consider myself as ambitious. I don't think I'll stop until, I don't think I'll ever stop wanting to progress and go further and do more.
00:03:41 ENDS
Ben Yeates
Ben Yeates - Wolverhampton PCT
My name's Ben Yeates, I work as an electrician for the Wolverhampton Primary Care Trust. We carry out the maintenance on all the properties belonging to the PCT in the Wolverhampton area. It's such a varied job, you don't really get two days the same, it ranges from changing light bulbs to small installation work. There's a lot that we have to undertake, really, and it's our supervisor's job to decide whether we're capable or whether it needs to go out to an external contractor.
School life for me was a bit up and down. I started in a comprehensive school and then my parents divorced so I moved with my Dad and that meant that I moved to a different school, a private school which was a very different experience and not one that I enjoyed too much. Moving back into a comprehensive school after that two year period, I was a lot happier and a lot of the teachers connected with me, I suppose.
I actually looked up to them and their advice was very helpful. There was one teacher in particular, Miss Atkins, and she came up to me and she suggested that maybe because I wasn't happy at school and my grades were dropping that maybe it wasn't the right thing for me at that time and she suggested that I might go and travel or get away. She knew that I was having issues at home, so. I didn't do it instantly but a few months down the line, maybe six months down the line I took her advice and I went travelling for six months.
I went with my girlfriend at the time and went to Australia and New Zealand and there was probably a five week period within that six months that we spent in a place called Korindi. We'd go fruit picking in the morning and then in the afternoon we'd have a lot of time to think so I started putting a lot of thought into careers and what I was going to do when I got back because I wasn't going to be able to travel forever and I came up with just little things like I knew that I didn't want to be confined to an office and I wanted to have a hands on job and I started thinking along the lines of a trade.
Not specifically an electrician but maybe carpentry or something of the like. Obviously, when I got back I was going to search for work and I managed to get a job working for the Primary Care Trust on the doctor's reception and I got to know people, made friends within the Trust and that's how I found out about the apprenticeship to be an electrician. It was a lady called Ann Langford who sorted that out for me and she's been a lot of help along the way. She put me in touch with the estates department when they'd advertised for an apprenticeship which is how I ended up with the job as an electrician.
I went for an electrical apprenticeship which was three years and four years down the line here I am.
I suppose I've become more confident in myself and my abilities, that's probably my greatest achievement. I was never that confident as a child, so, as you grow you develop that. I've always been quite a practical person. From a young age I was taking watches apart and trying to put them back together and I think I took to this job quite well. I'd really like to progress within the department and I'd really like to take on more responsibility and be able to steer the direction that we choose.
So, what position that would be I'm not sure but definitely more responsibility. I think ambition is an understatement. I'd definitely consider myself as ambitious. I don't think I'll stop until, I don't think I'll ever stop wanting to progress and go further and do more.
ENDS
Ben Yeates is an Electrician at Wolverhampton Primary Care Trust. Travel, suggested by a teacher, provided the opportunity to reflect on his future career and lead to him undertaking an apprenticeship.
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