Real life story: Joe
Meet Joe
Joe has worked at Heathrow for the past 9 years in Airside Operations and more recently in Aerodrome Safety Investigation Manager. Following a restructure as a result of COVID-19 and at risk of redundancy, Joe contacted Aviation Action for advice and went on to secure a new role.
COULD YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF?
As for all of us, COVID-19 came as a ‘bolt from the blue’ and has turned our industry upside down. Prior to March, I was employed as the Aerodrome Safety Inspection Manager – a role which I had taken up at the beginning of 2017 and had enjoyed since. I had a fantastic team and was able to draw on my experience as an Airfield Operations Officer. When passenger demand collapsed, particularly long-haul business travel which is a vital market for Heathrow, the company needed to restructure. This led to my role and the team I worked in no longer existing. A few weeks later, I secured a new role in the Learning & Development team with responsibility for learning across Fire, Health & Safety. I’ve always wanted to work in a training role and feel very fortunate to be working within a very talented, welcoming and inclusive team.
HOW DID YOU GET IN CONTACT WITH AVIATION ACTION?
I began to see posts from Aviation Action on my social media feeds and was curious to find out more. I got in touch via the website and the next day was put in touch with an experienced HR/Recruitment professional who was volunteering for Aviation Action. Our interactions were friendly and relaxed yet focused and committed towards achieving the goals we’d set. This really worked me.
WHAT SUPPORT WAS OFFERED TO YOU?
The first task was to refresh my CV, review my skills and talk through the options I had. There were more than I had realised – the tendency is to fixate on worst case scenario. Whilst natural, it doesn’t set you up for the most successful outcome. It was clear that time had been taken to really understand not only my background and skillset, but also my strengths and development areas. Following on from this, we focused on interview preparation and how to ensure I was best positioned to secure the new role I wanted. The level of support I received was incredible - relevant, encouraging and tailored specifically to me and my situation. I also had a couple of calls arranged for me with colleagues working at other airports who were in a similar situation to me. This enabled us to share experiences, advice and ideas.
WHAT OTHER SUPPORT WERE YOU OFFERED?
In addition to the 1:1 support I received, I made use of the various webinars and online learning sessions. A common theme across all of these was that the facilitators had extensive experience of working across the aviation sector. This meant that in addition to their expertise on topics such as recruitment, wellbeing and mental health, they were always able to link it to examples and experiences that participants would relate to.
WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AVIATION ACTION?
I would really encourage anyone who could benefit from Aviation Action to get in touch. We are extremely fortunate as a sector to have this resource, and it makes me proud to be part of this industry. I’m not aware of any other sectors where this level and quality of peer-to-peer support is being offered to all, free of charge. Just knowing that there are people on your side makes a big difference. To sum up, the care and compassion I experienced from Aviation Action means I am very grateful to them. Whether you’re going through redundancy, dealing with change, or feeling anxious it’s so important to reach out and take the support that’s available.
