Going for an interview on Thursday. Things are definitely ramping up as I've had quite a few calls from agents in what has otherwise been a quiet time for me and the industry in general. Will let you know how it goes later... Don't want to advertise where it is just yet, knowing my luck someone will pick up on it and beat me to it, ha ha!
Didn't get the job as, even though the interview went well, they were nit picking with my Asbestos Awareness certificate. I did it online, but as far as I'm concerned it is legal - and they even checked it out before I went to the interview so should have saved me the £50 petrol travelling to Leicester. The training provider, NATAS, is, I'm led to believe, a trusted company. Perhaps when online courses become more popular they won't pose the same problem or scare employers off.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Sainsbury's Bishop Auckland
As Night-Shift Site Manager, I was responsible for the health and safety of the night team and making sure the project was on time and finished to a high standard.
This was a job I enjoyed immensely and had a great rapport with the workforce.
Stott Carpentry & Joinery Ltd
Having worked for Stott's Halifax branch, I can vouch for their competency with large joinery projects they have completed on behalf of construction giants such as Carillion. Phil Carter - Regional Director - and his team are a great set of lads who know their stuff and get the job done. As a site supervisor, I could see first-hand the commitment of the site joiners who worked with speed and efficiency in equal measure. The Contract Managers were also good guys. I enjoyed reporting to them as we had a sound working relationship and I still keep in touch with them to this day.
Whilst I can't vouch for the London side of things, or Harrow to be more precise, I'm sure they are also a fine team of managers and tradesman.
Should you be on the lookout for a new joinery contractor then give Stott's a call and ask them for a quote. They cover most of the UK and take on jobs ranging from small shop-fits to multi-million-pound sites for the MOD.
Contact: phil@stottcarpentry.co.uk
Website: http://www.stottcarpentry.co.uk
Whilst I can't vouch for the London side of things, or Harrow to be more precise, I'm sure they are also a fine team of managers and tradesman.
Should you be on the lookout for a new joinery contractor then give Stott's a call and ask them for a quote. They cover most of the UK and take on jobs ranging from small shop-fits to multi-million-pound sites for the MOD.
Contact: phil@stottcarpentry.co.uk
Website: http://www.stottcarpentry.co.uk
Friday, 4 March 2011
Twitter@SiteManagerUK
Site Manager UK is now on Twitter.
Follow our LinkedIn group on Twitter@SiteManagerUK and keep up-to-date with our latest news and chat.
www.twitter.com/sitemanageruk
Tweet Tweet!
Follow our LinkedIn group on Twitter@SiteManagerUK and keep up-to-date with our latest news and chat.
www.twitter.com/sitemanageruk
Tweet Tweet!
Site Manager UK
Join the exciting new group on LinkedIn - Site Manager UK - for anybody interested in construction management in the United Kingdom. Network with like-minded professionals, join in the debate and enjoy the banter. It's all happening here - news, stories and gossip. Come along and sign up, everyone is welcome.
Site Manager UK is now hitting the heady heights of 14 members! Jump on board and help us grow into a networking giant.
Happy linking!
David
http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=3803028&csrfToken=ajax%3A0833467143728587196
Site Manager UK is now hitting the heady heights of 14 members! Jump on board and help us grow into a networking giant.
Happy linking!
David
http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=3803028&csrfToken=ajax%3A0833467143728587196
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Conflicting Evidence
It seems as though whenever you find an answer to your problem, there is always another expert's opinion giving an altogether different remedy. As if that doesn't make matters difficult enough, sometimes can we be too smart for our own good? Let me explain...
Firstly, an expert's opinion is just that - an opinion. Some things in life can't be cast in stone, mathematics, for instance, is based on indisputable facts, but pigeon racing is based on knowledge, which is made up of people's opinions.
Secondly, what makes an expert? In my humble opinion it is someone who is intelligent, well-read and well-informed, usually through experience.
The reason I got thinking about all this nonsense was when I happened to be refining my CV and reading as much as I could on the subject. The profile section that most experts say is really important and without it your CV is going nowhere. On the other hand, Sarah Berry - a well-known career coach - says profiles are lazy and most are badly written.
Whilst most profiles are perhaps badly written, it is her opinion that profiles are no good at all and what better way to stand out from the crowd than to write CVs without profiles if every other CV expert is guaranteed to use them.
Even if Sarah Berry is right about profile sections, I still think she could be too smart for her own good. The reason being, if 90% of the population think profile sections should be included in a CV, that leaves 10% who would rather leave them out. So my thinking goes like this, by going with the majority on something rather than the minority, you are more likely to find someone that agrees with your way of doing things. Although that might sound obvious, what I'm getting at is that by doing what you perceive to be the best way might be of less importance to what is the most popular.
For the record, I have included a profile section on my CV, which I hope is well-written.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Psychometric Profiling
Anyone clued-up on the subject of psychometric profiling will probably have heard of the Myers-Briggs type indicator. While I was browsing Jobsite's interview advice section, one of the questions asked, 'what is your Myers-Briggs profile?' and as I didn't have the slightest idea what it was all about, a quick Google session later and I'm up-to-date on the subject.
After completing the seventy-two questions, I was amazed and intrigued at the same time. The accuracy of my profile stunned me. It was as if someone had looked into a crystal ball and found out everything about me. There are more modern and advanced tests, or supposedly so, but I personally like the original Myers-Briggs type indicator for its simplicity and hard-to-beat correctness.
This test is fun from a personal perspective, but also useful to study and highlight areas of your character that can be improved upon. For instance, I have an inventor-rational profile ENTP and can come up with lots of ideas, but can be distracted by smaller details instead of looking at the bigger picture.
Also, one can use the test as a personal barometer. Since I've worked as a supervisor my profile has changed to ENTJ, which I can only put down to not looking at things from a personal perspective and thinking like a leader.
Go ahead and try the test for yourself.
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
The Jobsite test I tried was quite interesting, though the full report is too detailed to include here. You get a summary, however, that looks like this:
Jobsite Personal Profile
David, your profile type is:
Contender
As a Contender, you're likely to believe at times it is necessary for work to come before the family, with the knowledge that the family will benefit in the long run from your success.
After completing the seventy-two questions, I was amazed and intrigued at the same time. The accuracy of my profile stunned me. It was as if someone had looked into a crystal ball and found out everything about me. There are more modern and advanced tests, or supposedly so, but I personally like the original Myers-Briggs type indicator for its simplicity and hard-to-beat correctness.
This test is fun from a personal perspective, but also useful to study and highlight areas of your character that can be improved upon. For instance, I have an inventor-rational profile ENTP and can come up with lots of ideas, but can be distracted by smaller details instead of looking at the bigger picture.
Also, one can use the test as a personal barometer. Since I've worked as a supervisor my profile has changed to ENTJ, which I can only put down to not looking at things from a personal perspective and thinking like a leader.
Go ahead and try the test for yourself.
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
The Jobsite test I tried was quite interesting, though the full report is too detailed to include here. You get a summary, however, that looks like this:
Jobsite Personal Profile
David, your profile type is:
Contender
As a Contender, you're likely to believe at times it is necessary for work to come before the family, with the knowledge that the family will benefit in the long run from your success.
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