Jude Bezance

Brief Overview

My time as a lifeguard has been a valuable experience for me. I have gained a significant number of skills that have benefitted me in my day-to-day life. We are required to be attentive while supervising the pool, have a high level of physical fitness, work well under pressure, and enforce rules so the centre runs safely and efficiently.

Key responsibilities:

• We must have good leadership skills to run the pool safely; sometimes there could be 2 lifeguards and 60 swimmers.
• Communication is a must. Our role is very customer-oriented; therefore, our communication skills must be excellent to ensure advice and instructions are clearly well received.
• Teamwork is essential; excellent trust between our team members is crucial, especially in emergency situations.
• Punctuality is an essential part of the job. We operate according to timings for our entire shift, for example. We will do 15 minutes of supervising the pool and 30 minutes off on a rotation basis. During our time off pool, we will keep up with housekeeping tasks in the centre and perform any tasks delegated to us by our management team.
• CPR and emergency first aid skills at an advanced level. During our monthly training, we revise three first aid topics and put them into live practice using CPR dummies or whatever topic for that month is chosen. During my day-to-day work, if minor first aid is required, I will do so accordingly.
• Legally, we must undergo monthly staff training to ensure I remain compliant with my professional standards set by the Royal Life Saving Society.
• Complete incident and accident reports when necessary.
• Complete daily safety logs on a regular basis.
• Maintain safety equipment to ensure that, if an emergency happens, it is clean, functional, and accessible.

Key achievements:

• Increased my knowledge in open water incident prevention.
• Strengthened situational awareness skills.
• Built leadership skills.
• Improved my communication skills.
• Proved physical and mental discipline.
• Earned trust by my managers being trusted with customer safety.

As my passion since choosing my college course has always been to be a commercial diver at the end goal of my education, it was important for me to attend the aptitude test held by CDT in January.

The day was incredible, offering me invaluable experience with surface-supplied diving equipment and allowing me to actually use dive systems and get in the water myself, using the famous Kirby Morgan helmet.

At the end of the aptitude day, I was offered the opportunity to return in 2027 to complete the full HSE Air Diving Course.

Brief Overview

I was successful in gaining the position at JT Oska. My idea of working for this company was to gain valuable experience with hands-on tools while I was studying for my Mechanical Engineering T-Level. It was a versatile, professional position which allowed me to complete a range of maintenance and building tasks such as electrical installation, basic plumbing, joinery, and power tool usage.

Key responsibilities:

• Maintain equipment, ensuring that all tools are functional, Dewalt batteries are charged, and all power tool blades are efficiently sharp while being stored safely and correctly.
• Complete tasks delegated to me by my boss independently; this confirmed my excellent work ethic and skill with hands-on tasks.
• A good level of problem-solving ability is a must; during day-to-day tasks, issues arise when working in a trade environment. It was important that I could counteract these issues and find a way around them that was safe and efficient.
• A broad technical knowledge across all trades was essential for me; one day we could be doing joinery in a rented property, and the next fitting a full kitchen with electrics.
• Time management was key; timelines were tight at times, and it was important that customers felt satisfied with my work. An efficient work rate was essential while also maintaining a high level of precision and quality.
• Teamwork was essential; tasks would be delegated and performed with the idea that they would all link together upon completion.

Key achievements:

• Manual labour skills.
• Working on numerous sites.
• Gained my CSCS card for safe working practices.
• Knowledge on trade tools such as a joiners router, jigsaw and so on.
• Built resilience - essential when working in ever changing situations.

While studying T Levels at Middlesbrough College, I was successful in gaining a scholarship with a reputable national company. During my time at Dormor, I was able to enhance my educational learning. I was successful in achieving this scholarship over a large cohort of applicants.

During my scholarship, I was funded to attend college while gaining experience; of 250 peers who applied, only 20 places across numerous companies were offered, including mine. Therefore, this was a fabulous opportunity for me allowing me to work on impressive projects - for example, some for BAE systems.