Case study 2 – Caterpillar Field Service Technician – Field Service Fitter in Scotland to Field Service Manager in Australia
Recruited in September 2010 and deployed to Australia in April 2011 to start work for one of the world’s largest Caterpillar dealers
This is Jock’s journey.
Hours worked at the Australian Caterpillar Dealer since hiring
Commenced employment with Australian Caterpillar Dealer
With Australian Caterpillar Dealer
ROI for Australian Caterpillar Dealer
Where did Jock’s journey begin?
We first met Jock in 2010. After some initial discussions we assessed that Jock was someone we wanted to find out more about. All we knew at this stage was he was a Caterpillar trained field service fitter that wanted something more from life than just run of the mill contracting work.
So we sent our international recruitment specialist Dennis to meet up with Jock in person. Dennis decided the best place to make a Scottish field service fitter feel comfortable and have a decent chat would be the front bar of The Scotsman Hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Previous working history
Jock had been working for dealers including Finning UK Limited and Liebherr Great Britain Limited, and also been working for mining companies including Barrick Gold in Tanzania.
Dennis and John had a few long and interesting discussions about gear (Jock had worked on 963s, 988s, 785 trucks, 5130, 990G to name a few) and how different companies approached maintenance and ongoing training of their employees.
Jock was very keen to understand more about the bigger mining gear in Australia, models and numbers in the fleets etc, and he made it clear he was ready for a long term role with a Caterpillar dealer.
Making the move to Australia
Our international recruitment specialist Dennis completed the background and integrity checks on Jock and set about convincing the Australian Caterpillar dealer that they should interview and hire Jock as quickly as they could.
Dennis spent considerable time communicating with many top level and mid level managers at the dealership making the case that they should interview and hire Jock – Because at this stage (2010) there was considerable resistance to recruiting overseas, with many managers dead set against the idea.
However, after giving written assurances and financial guarantees regarding the recruitment and suitability of Jock to the Australian Caterpillar dealer, Dennis was given the green light to have the dealer’s HR department conduct a telephone interview with Jock.
Jock was interviewed by the dealer and was quickly presented with a letter of offer to work for one of the world’s largest Caterpillar dealers.
Starting work at the Caterpillar dealer in Australia
From day one Jock excelled at the Australian Caterpillar dealership. His attendance record was excellent, his attention to detail and thirst for knowledge was quickly recognised.
Jock knew how to get the job done safely and correctly.
Any hesitance in top level management regarding employing overseas Caterpillar trained fitters just faded away and was quickly replaced with “can you get us more like that?”.
Where is Jock now?
Jock is still working for the same Australian Caterpillar dealership.
But he is no longer employed as a field service fitter.
Jock rose up through the Cat dealership and became a Field Service manager.
Jock currently overseas a team of over 135 people covering Cat surface mining, construction, quarrying, waste, agricultural and marine equipment.
With now over 11 years service with one of the world’s largest Caterpillar dealers and counting, it’s fair to say Jock is in it for the long term.
Feedback from Jock
Australian Caterpillar dealers working on large mining equipment have a very different view on a work / life balance compared to UK companies.
For example it’s not uncommon in the UK for a fitter to be working 5, 6 and sometimes 7 days a week, week in week out.
But Australian Caterpillar dealers can work all types of shift patterns, for example 4 days on, 4 days off.
This can initially present problems for fitters that have never experienced so much free time away from work. You might laugh when reading this, as if it could be a problem having so much free time – but you need to find out what it is you like to do, golf? fishing? spending time with your family? Or a buss man’s holiday and spend time doing up a hot rod in the garage at home – regardless what you do in your free time, you will have a lot more of it when working at an Australian Caterpillar dealer working in field service.
Would Jock recommend making the move to Australia to work for a Caterpillar dealer? Well he said he was happy for us to share his story about his journey and that he’d highly recommend it to others!
Jock, for the record Dennis says you’re the only person ever to have got him to have a pint of Guinness and he says you deserve every success, you’ve earned it!
Did overseas recruitment of field service fitters work for one of the world’s largest Caterpillar dealers?
Some like to view success in monetary terms.
Some view success in terms of a person fitting in.
Some view success in terms of how long something lasts.
More than 11 years of service and still employed
Risen through the ranks to become a field service manager of a team of over 135 people
Became an Australian Citizen and committed and heavily involved with the dealership, mining and the local community.
Regardless how you measure success.
The overseas recruitment of field service fitters has been an outstanding success.
Measure of ROI – Substantial