Jock From Scotland To Australia
Where did Jock’s journey with us 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 Scotland to meet up with Jock in person.
Dennis figured the best place to make a Scottish field service fitter from West Lothian feel comfortable, and to have a decent chat, might be the front bar of The Scotsman Hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Previous working history
Jock had been working for OEM dealers including Finning UK Limited and Liebherr Great Britain Limited, and he had also been working for mining companies in Africa, 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 they discussed how different companies approached maintenance and ongoing training of their employees around the world.
Jock was very keen to understand more about the large surface mining equipment in Australia, asking about the models and numbers in the fleets etc, and he made it clear he was ready for a long term role with a Caterpillar Dealer.
Well, Dennis after chatting with Jock many times, thought he had just what Jock was looking…. Read on to see if he was right.
Making the move to Australia
Our international recruitment specialist Dennis using his industry connections 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 Australian Caterpillar 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 and contract of employment to work for one of the world’s largest Caterpillar Dealers in Australia.
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.
An update to this is that one of the managers that was most against the idea of recruiting from overseas, because they believed the skill sets wouldn’t be there. Was Jocks first boss in Australia at the Caterpillar Dealership, and that manager became one of Jock’s closest friends and actively supported Jock throughout, to eventually become the Area Field Service Manager that Jock is today, and they are still the best of friends.
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 worked his way up through the Australian Caterpillar Dealership and became the Area Field Service Manager.
Jock currently overseas a team of over 160 people covering Caterpillar Large Surface Mining Equipment, Construction, Quarrying, Waste, Agricultural and Marine Divisions.
With now 14 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 and found just what he was looking for.
Feedback from Jock
We asked Jock for his permission to tell his story and if he wanted to say anything. And he said he was very happy for us to share his story about his journey.
And he had this to say:
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, riding motor bikes to the red line? 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? He said that he’d highly recommend it to others!
Jock and Dennis really connected, to such an extent that Jock suggested an evening tour of Edinburgh might be in order, and if Dennis was game, Jock would show him around.
Jock, for the record Dennis says you’re the only person ever to have got him to drink Guinness, and he says you deserve every bit of the success you’ve earned in Australia, you are surely where you are supposed to be.
Jock we wish you congratulations on your 14 years’ of service with the Australian Caterpillar Dealership and may there be many more.
That was Jock’s workers journey.
We are Skilled Migration Group Pty Ltd
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