At 24 years old, Mark Collier had never considered the transport industry until last year when a friend suggested he try the Arriva graduate scheme. Eight months on, Mark talks to us about finding his feet in unknown territory
Q: How did you get your start in the industry?
A: I did geography at university and graduated in 2014, and then I spent a couple of years trying different jobs. I tried banking, construction, accountancy… and eventually I found the Arriva graduate scheme. When I left university I had no idea – one of my friends sent me a link to the Arriva grad scheme and said ‘I think this is up your street’, and it definitely is. I’m really enjoying it. I applied and was accepted, and I’ve been on that since September 2016. It’s good fun. You get sent to a lot of different locations – I’ve been to five or six different depots already. You learn a lot.
Q: What does the graduate scheme entail?
A: You come into the industry knowing next to nothing, and you start from scratch on the graduate scheme. I worked on traffic desks, I did some allocation, I’ve driven buses, right up to what I’m doing now which is operation management. You try a bit of everything.
Q: What is your favourite aspect of the graduate scheme?
A: I like the fact that every day there’s someone different to speak to. It’s not an office-based job. All the jobs I’ve had before were office based, and I wanted to get away from that. There’s more variety in this role than I’ve ever had before, and I enjoy that variety.
Q: How important do you think graduate schemes are?
A: I think grad schemes are a good thing. I certainly never thought I’d end up in this industry, but the Arriva grad scheme was out there. I think awareness is a big thing – there’s not many people my age who would immediately think ‘I’m going to go work in the transport industry’. There needs to be more awareness of the jobs that are available.
Q: What are some of the highlights so far?
A: The first thing I had to do was get my PCV licence and that was good fun, I really enjoyed getting the licence. I drove a service for a few weeks, which was interesting – it certainly gives you an insight into what’s going on out there. I’m working on a few projects at the moment that I’m really enjoying, and hopefully towards the end of the summer some of those will start to come to fruition.
Q: What challenges have you encountered?
A: The first two or three months were a massive learning curve. I’ve come into the industry with next to no background in it at all – the most I’ve ever done in the transport industry was when I wrote my dissertation at university. There’s a lot more to it than you realise coming in from the outside. At the start it was a case of learning how the depot works day-to-day. Once you’ve got to grips with that, it’s understanding the higher-level stuff, such as health and safety regulations and all the stuff that Operations Managers have to deal with. To think back to where I was 10 months ago, it’s crazy how much you have to pick up and learn.
Q: Where do you see yourself in the next few years?
A: I’d like to move upwards in the industry, and I’ll obviously try to get as high as I can. The first step will be to get an Operations Manager or Assistant Operations Manager position. I’d like to gain more knowledge of the industry – the more you know, the better off you are.
