Assistant Manager, Catering & Cleaning
Addenbrookes Hospital

Robert A

00:00:01 My name’s Robert A and I’m currently working as an Assistant Manager in the Hotel Services Department here at Addenbrookes Hospital. We look after the catering. We make sure the cleaning is to the national standard required. We also are involved with numerous projects throughout the site, at varying different stages. I’m involved with many departments, may different people and I thoroughly enjoy it.

00:01:10 Before University I had a gap year in Australia, where I was teaching children how to sail, and to climb. I did a degree course which is totally irrelevant to what I’m doing now, I studied Outdoor Education and Tourism. And then had another year out, half-way through the University, because I was voted by the students there to be the Students’ Union President, which was one of the best years of my life. I ran the bar, we got various bands involved, and lots of other different events, and it really gave me a better insight into business and the working environment. I always wanted to be in the Armed Forces. My father was in the Armed Forces, my Granddad was in the Armed Forces, I was going to be in the Armed Forces – but that wasn’t to be. I met my wife, and I think that personally speaking the Armed Forces is best served if you’re single. I’m lucky to have had two gap years, and they gave me a great insight to a number of different career paths and – which has helped me make the decisions I have.

00:01:34 I’ve recently moved down to Cambridge from a place called Colataly, and I was working as a Careers Advisor. I used to work with youth offenders, I used to be based in the school some of the time. I – I mean I’ve worked with a lady and she was the perfect Careers Advisor in my humble opinion. She was able to connect with people. I wasn’t able to do the job as well as she could, I think she did as well as she did because she enjoyed it so much and she had that passion for her role. Now I’m lucky to say that I’m now in a role where I can work very hard because I enjoy what I do.

00:02:12 I think my heroes – first and foremost would be my father, because he was in the Armed Forces as I said, and watching him work within a job where, you know, he came home with a smile on his face, you know, really inspired me to just go out there and look for a job which I would be suited for. My father died of cancer, and he actually received care at this hospital. I think that – that has given me a better insight, and I’m able to do my job better because I can not only see my job from an Estates and Facilities point of view, but also have that sort of visitor and patient insight. I feel great loyalty to Addenbrookes Hospital, and I think I’m very privileged to be in the job that I’ve got. And I work very hard. But I wouldn’t be able to do that if I didn’t enjoy my job.

00:03:12 Well I’ve been taking different paths my entire life I would say. It wasn’t a conscious decision to become a Careers Advisor or Assistant Hotel Service Manager. At each stage in my career I’ve assessed where I am and applied for positions where I thought they would suit me well. In twenty-five years time, I would like to think that I would be a Director of an Estates and Facilities department in a hospital. That’s an ambition that I have, and I’m very enthusiastic about it.

00:03:45 ENDS