FE Technician Careers – Meet a CRC Technician in Care, Health & Early Years

It’s #TECHOGNITION Day! 8th March

#TECHOGNITION is a national celebration of technical support staff, recognising the importance of their essential roles in school and college education.

The seventh annual #TECHOGNITION event is being held on Friday 8th March 2024. We want to celebrate our technicians and the great work they do for the CRC community.

We are shining the spotlight on our amazing technicians in a series of blogs: Meet a CRC Technician! Read on to find out about their career route, what a typical day looks like and much more. As it’s National Careers Week they will be sharing some top tips for people considering a career as a Technician in Education.

Meet Charlotte Gibbons, Resource Technician

What department(s) / subjects do you support?

CHEY – Care, Health & Early Years

How did you come to be a technician? (What career/ educational route have you taken to get here?)

Level 3 BTEC Childcare qualification which I studied at Cambridge Regional College in 2008-2010. Level 3 Business Admin at CRC 2010-2011. Working in a Secondary School office 2011-2012. Working in a Doctors surgery on reception and as a HCA in minor surgery. 2012-2016 Working at Histon Early Years Centre in the office as well as covering as a L3 EYP when required 2016-2022.

Started here in September 2022 as the Resource Technician in CHEY – Care Health & Early Years Department, where I feel I have been full circle from being a student in this department to being back and working here as staff supporting the students.

I was not happy in my previous role as I felt I had not been able to progress or use all the skills I had gained and when I was told about this job, I knew instantly I wanted to apply for this role. I was so pleased when I came for a look around and gained further information about what the role entailed and was even more pleased when I was invited for an interview and offered the job.

My mum has been a technician in a Food Tech role, and I always loved hearing about how much she loved this role, and I am now also able to share this love of holding a technician’s role.

What does a typical day look like as a technician?

• Room checks
• Floor tidy, chairs in place, posters all up, blinds open, board clean.
• Putting a ticket in if anything is not working
• Ensuring the TV screen is on and showing the PowerPoint of the photos from the classes and exciting things that have happened.
• Booking laptops for the learners that staff have requested for their class
• Checking emails for resources that are needed for 1st lesson if they have not been requested in advance.
• If we have a guest speaker visiting the students, I will go to reception to greet and welcome them to our department and bring them to the correct classroom.
• Prepare for charity event – Posters/organising tables/trolleys/setting up the event in the mall with the students.
• Preparing paperwork and registers for the interviews for the next cohort of students PLUS taking part in this and interviewing the new students
• Ensuring the coloured paper is stocked up and easy to access for the lecturers to get if their learner needs a specific coloured print out or I am required to print this for the learner.
• Ensuring we have stock of items that are needed day to day and ordering these if they are running low.
• At the start of term it is a very busy time ordering the learners textbooks & T shirts, I help them choose their size. I then log all this to ensure we have accurate records of what each learner has received.
• When required I will cover classes if a member of the team is off.
• If we have a welcome event, I will prepare leaflets and resources to be out for the event, organise the display boards for the tables and set up the room, including hoovering the room if it needs and extra tidy ready for the prospective students and parents/carers to arrive.

What are the key skills of a great FE technician?

To be a successful technician I believe you need to have the following key skills:

Organised – Prepare class resources in advance and keep things tidy.

Creative – as there are a lot of displays to keep looking fresh, eye catching and up to date. Being a friendly face for the staff and learners.

Patient and good time management as you may need to plan in advance to ensure resources are ready for the following week.

Being flexible – Plans might change very quickly or you may have to prepare resources for a class last minute.

Helpful to staff, students and guest speakers. Proactive know how to use the photocopier!

Have a “can do” attitude. Be an “unofficial” IT tech – especially with EXCEL, Willing to go the extra mile to help staff & learners. Be ready to do ANYTHING!

What do you particularly like about being a technician / being a technician at CRC?

Being part of an amazing and supportive team and knowing what I am doing is helping students learn skills needed for the workplace and continue their learning. I enjoy being able to work alongside both the staff and students and take part in lessons, fundraisers and preparing for open events.

What advice would you offer anyone considering becoming a technician?

The advice I would give anyone considering going for this role is just go for it! You won’t regret it :) You get to use so many different skills and no day is ever the same. I would say ensure you establish a routine that the staff in your department are aware of and set deadlines and time periods of when you need to know things in advance.

CELEBRATE TECHNICIANS!

We want to thank our technicians for all the great work they do supporting CRC staff and students.