Ryan Taylor

Building Electrical Technician

Biography

I am currently doing an apprenticeship while working for the University, but first, a little bit of background about me. I have lived in Oxfordshire all my life. I left school with terrible GCSEs and was heavily bullied, so in the end school was just about surviving the next day. However, I was tenacious and the one thing I did want at that age was some form of qualifications, which unfortunately my school wasn’t able to provide me with, so I carried on studying at college doing different First Diplomas and, in the end, I managed to leave education with a National Diploma. 

Before I started working for the Department of Chemistry I worked in retail. I started as a young 16 year old part-timer and then, after I finished my education, I didn’t really know what to do, so I moved into working full time. I worked myself up the grades until I was managing 30 members of staff. I learnt skills like organising my work and planning, which I continue to use to organise processes to this day. When I decided to leave my previous role, my parents gave me all the support I could ever want. I knew I wanted to learn a trade and have a new start, and so I thought about doing an apprenticeship. I eventually met Dan Rosic, a Departmental Electrician, who has been a massive help to push me to keep aiming high over the last year.

My current role is Building Electrical Technician. I spend a mix of my time doing Portable Appliance Testing (PAT), helping and working with Dan towards my apprenticeship. From the start of my apprenticeship, I had so much support from the University, Dan and my colleagues. 

I hope to become an electrician and aim to be the best electrician I can be. I have learnt so much about the role from Dan; he’s doing an awesome job teaching me everything and I know his standards are high, so I feel I’m learning from the best. 

Since I started the Apprenticeship every day has been different and offered something new. The support from all the Facilities teams has been so inspirational. They have helped me, supported me, and taught me so much and I still have so much to learn. It has been a great honour working with my colleagues and I am passionate about completing the apprenticeship. 

Other interests

Outside of work I normally see my friends and family, but because of the pandemic that is all on hold. I bought a property and moved in just before the lockdown, decorated it and made it a home. I hope to be successful in what I do and want to carry on working for the University. I have enjoyed my time with the University and the people working here, where I’ve made new friends. To keep my work-life balance, I live alone and I care for my parents, helping them whenever I can. Because of the pandemic, I currently don’t see much of them, so at the moment video calls do the job. This apprenticeship has been a great distraction during this time, and my colleagues that I see help me keep going and keep me focused.