Traffic Controls Profiles
Neale Burrows
- Joined Siemens:
- 2004
- Job Title:
- Technical Support Engineer
- What’s your background?
- I’ve been with Siemens Traffic Controls since summer 2004. I started off as a Field Services Trainee with the aim of becoming an Engineer after 3 years.
- What attracted you to an apprenticeship?
- I found the technical aspects of the role really suited me and I already had some of the qualifications required for the programme, so I fast-tracked and completed the scheme within 2 years. I was fortunate to be on a scheme that was flexible enough to allow me to do that. Now I’m a Technical Support Engineer and I’m responsible for southern Aberdeen to the furthest of northern Scotland. My main customer is Aberdeen City Council and my job is to rectify faults on the urban traffic systems.
- Outline your typical day.
- No two days are the same, but a typical day starts off with driving my company car to the office and getting a cup of coffee when I get there! Then I check my emails; usually they are from the customer and are to do with queries that haven’t been answered. Someone else will have thought they’d fixed the problem, but the customer doesn’t think it’s been resolved properly. As I said, no two days are the same, and no two faults are the same – every day is a new challenge! Mainly I have to resolve problems with the computer system that oversees the co-ordination of the traffic, and co-ordinating with the Police to maintain the bus lane enforcement cameras. As well as day to day faults I have larger projects to work on as well.
- What has been the most challenging aspect?
- Due to the nature of the work my job is reactive and not preventative; it’s quite difficult to plan time. Someone will phone and I have to be there in the next five minutes.
- What has been your best bit/highlight so far?
- There’s a good social life. Even though I do a lot of my work on my own, there are plenty of team and customer nights out planned.
- What kind of training and support have you received?
- This summer I became a mentor for our latest trainee. I thought it would be much easier than it is and now I appreciate just what my mentor had to go through when I first started!
- What advice can you give someone looking to apply for an apprenticeship?
- I think the best thing about being on the Trainee Programme is that it acts as a cushion for your mistakes, so you get to learn the skills of the job in a “safe” environment.
