Seeking Advice

[swifty469]

First let me say that the forums have been a real help and an insite into an indsutry i have kept my eye on for a while.

I am to leave the Army in about 16 months and am doing all the groundwork and am adamant that ROV is for me, I know the pit falls and how hard it is to get a foot through the door but with hard work etc I will succeed.

I realise that its about quals and flying time but can anybody tell me if there are companys or agents that would take me on board as a trainee once I have completed my courses, the diffrence here is that I would be prepared to do this for free until I feel that I have sufficient flying time and experience.

I realise that it may be a daft question to ask but if i could secure a placement or even interest that its a question well worth asking.

Cheers.

[Cabledog]

Swifty,

What is your background, from a technical point of view. And try and avoid posting the same thing twice! Some people get upset with that 😆

Dog

[swifty469]

Hi Dog,

Cheers for getting back,

I am primarliy a logistics specialist with just under 22 years under my belt, I have worked extensively with Army Bomb Disposal and have operated ROV tho be it tracked or wheeled both fibre optic operated and cable. I dont have the academic quals but am hands on and practible,

I have also been employed in "non green" specialist units and am experienced with the use of observation techniques both overt and covert.

I know its not an ideal selling point but I want to do ROV as the lifestyle appeals and further down the line the financial rewards are attractive. I am a realist and realise I have a lot of work ahead of me to get a job but its better to start now than leave it until the last minute.

(hint taken abt the other post) 😉

[sean]

Any minute now someone will be putting a post on here telling you not to offer yourself to a company for free, this is because you will be taking the place of someone in need of work. I assume you will be leaving the army with a full pension and lump sum there for you can afford to do so. The choice is yours. You could always speak to Seaeye in Southampton or Slingsbys in Yorkshire or any other manufacturer of ROVs and see if they will let you work in their workshops for no wage, this way you will gain some technical experience on the vehicles you will be working on, keep some folk on here happy and have something better on your CV than logistics specialist.
For the record it wouldn’t bother me if you offered to work for free, if you do don’t tell ANYONE

[luckyjim37]

I am not saying anything regarding working for free. But if you can afford to work for free why not just take a year out and do a HNC in Electrical/Electronic or Hydraulics and try and pick up workshop work during the college holidays.

I agree with everything Sean says. Working for free is a little extreme.

Did you do any of the maintenance on the tracked vehicles you have used for bomb disposal?

Happy hunting.

[Ray Shields]

I know it sounds like a good idea, but you will struggle to find a company that will take you on for "free". You have to ben an employee, you have to be covered by their liability insurances etc. Most companies are just not set up to have an employee that does not get paid.

I have also been employed in "non green" specialist units and am experienced with the use of observation techniques both overt and covert.

LoL! Ive seen that on a CV before as well. My advice then was you don’t need the skill to be able to hide yourself to operate and maintain an ROV 😀

You need to have as good a technical qualification and experience as possible. As Jim suggests, get some technical qualifications in electrics, electronics and hydraulics. That is what is needed and looked for on CVs for ROVs. FFF – fly it, f*ck it, fix it. Most people can learn to fly it (some better than others), everyone can f*ck it (see previous statement!) but you also need to know how to fix it, maintaining and fixing the ROV is the most important bit and thats where the technical experience and skills are needed.

[swifty469]

I am not saying anything regarding working for free. But if you can afford to work for free why not just take a year out and do a HNC in Electrical/Electronic or Hydraulics and try and pick up workshop work during the college holidays.

I agree with everything Sean says. Working for free is a little extreme.

Did you do any of the maintenance on the tracked vehicles you have used for bomb disposal?

Happy hunting.

Cheers for your post, The old able ROV i operatated was fairly easy to fix when it went down, When that was replaced by the all new singing and dancing MK8b that was a little tricky as it was electronics and fibre opitics working off an onboard OBCU, but yes i used my time in the workshops to take on board the things they were doing and unless it was an OBCU problem there was very little that couldnt be fixed if you just took the time.

[swifty469]

Thanks for the feedback,

A lot of positivness and advice that is greatly appreciated. I will start doing a bit more research.

Due to having the army pay for my resettlement courses I’m going for the following:

Premium ROV – 7 weeks at Fort William, It seems a little more in depth than 3 weeks.

[cookie]

Hi Guys,
can anyone point me in the right direction please if poss, i have recently done my ROV Pilot tech II down in portland with GMS ltd, basically i need to get my foot on the ladder and get my first job, my background is Electrical/Mechanical Maintenace, also have a coding in Welding, good hands on guy…any sugestions would be appreciated, thanks.
cookie.

[swifty469]

I know it sounds like a good idea, but you will struggle to find a company that will take you on for "free". You have to ben an employee, you have to be covered by their liability insurances etc. Most companies are just not set up to have an employee that does not get paid.

I have also been employed in "non green" specialist units and am experienced with the use of observation techniques both overt and covert.

LoL! Ive seen that on a CV before as well. My advice then was you don’t need the skill to be able to hide yourself to operate and maintain an ROV 😀

You need to have as good a technical qualification and experience as possible. As Jim suggests, get some technical qualifications in electrics, electronics and hydraulics. That is what is needed and looked for on CVs for ROVs. FFF – fly it, f*ck it, fix it. Most people can learn to fly it (some better than others), everyone can f*ck it (see previous statement!) but you also need to know how to fix it, maintaining and fixing the ROV is the most important bit and thats where the technical experience and skills are needed.

Am now looking at this, http://www.logis-tech.co.uk/index.html

[Ray Shields]

Thanks for the feedback,

A lot of positivness and advice that is greatly appreciated. I will start doing a bit more research.

Due to having the army pay for my resettlement courses I’m going for the following:

Premium ROV – 7 weeks at Fort William, It seems a little more in depth than 3 weeks.

I would advise you look at the additional 4 weeks – as far as I know the additional weeks is an SVQ in electronics. If you already have some electronic knowledge you may find you dont need it. Also, I would highly recommend doing a proper SVQ/NVQ/HNC whatever in electrics and electronics.

Its like learning to drive a car, you can go to an intensive driving school and pass your driving test – but how much will you really learn. Same with this course. A yearsworth of work done in 4 weeks – how much will you remember.

[Ray Shields]

Am now looking at this, http://www.logis-tech.co.uk/index.html

Have you spoken to any local colleges? I think you would find you get better courses (and probably cheaper) through them rather than a training company (who has a terribly amateurly looking website!). Ive also found they are selling their HNC units on Ebay!

You can get full time, part time, block release and distance learning from colleges, plus also lots of good backup.

Whatever course you get, ensure it is a nationally recognised or acredited course (as opposed to some course made up by a company in which you get one of their own "certificates" when you finish).

Also have a look at COLU, they have been providing distance learning units for years, done HNC units through them myself (many years back 🙂 )

http://www.colu.co.uk/

[swifty469]

Ray,
Cheers for that mate, Its like working through a minefiled, If i ever succeed come find me and i will get you a pint in!

[HelpMaBoab]

LOL Ray, "Come and find me and I’ll buy you a pint".
Who is this joker? Should’t he be tracking you down and buying you a pint 😛
The way things are going the ROV game is going to be like being in the territorials, we will have to start saluting reps and painting anodes to stop them oxidising. 🙄

[Ray Shields]

Its OK, given the way things work in ROVs youll probably be my Supervisor in 5 years time 😀 😀 😀

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