Bringing a Positive Attitude to Every Task

Chantelle served for five years in the British Army as part of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. She was just 17 when she joined, fresh out of college and ready for a change of scene. She loved the sense of belonging, and when she left, the transition to civilian life presented more than a few challenges. ‘You lose the sense of family you have in the army,’ she explains. ‘When you’re in the army, any time, day or night, if you need someone to talk to, they’re there for you. When you leave – you do feel like you’re on your own.’

She worked in various civilian jobs – first as a housing project coordinator, then as a marine engineer. She did some heavy lifting at a removals firm, then worked in haulage again for an agricultural company, before finally joining GTG Training.

Her motivation? She loved driving, and fancied seeing if she could make a career out of it. She soon found at GTG she was working with plenty of ex-forces people – and hit it off with them straight away.

Her positive attitude is something she gets from being in the forces – and she enjoys working with people with the same outlook. ‘Working at GTG has been the quickest year of my life.’ She explains, ‘It’s relaxed. There’s always someone willing to help or explain if you make a mistake. They won’t make you feel bad about it or put pressure on you.’

Day to day, she loves the variety of different people she instructs and interacts with. She could be working with someone who’s jobless or has been made redundant and needs to get their licence in order to support themselves back into work – or someone who’s saved every penny to get there.

Chantelle agrees that her job is still a predominantly male-dominated environment, but then, so have all the jobs she’s been in so far. For her, it’s anything but daunting. In fact, it just makes her even more determined to show how capable she is. Her advice to other women looking for careers in the automotive industry? ‘If it’s what you want to do – go for it! If you’re capable of doing the job’, she says, ‘don’t be held back by anyone.’

As for recruiters, she urges them to consider people like her who have armed forces experience. ‘Most likely, they’ll be loyal, driven and determined – they’ll be able to turn their hand to anything. They’re great problem solvers, and while someone else will be scratching their head and wondering what to do, they’ll already have thought of a few different solutions.’