Accessibility statement

Technician stories

Find out more about your fellow technicians and how their careers have progressed.

We'd love you to share your story too, and we've put together some ideas to help make writing it easy! Find out more:

Stories

  • Richard Keogan - November 2022

    Richard is a technical officer and tutor within the School of Arts and Creative Technologies. He is program lead for MA/MSc in Film and Television Production with Sound, a lecturer and Technical Specialist (audio) and a certified Pro Tools Expert and Instructor (Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure or ACI).
  • Maria Gehrels - October 2021

    Maria is a Physical Geography Research Technician. She shares her story of being inspired by a technician as a research student and how it motivated her to follow the same career path.
  • Adam Stroughair - July 2019

    As a Research Services Technician in the School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, Adam has seen his role develop to include new responsibilities including project management. He's also a member of the TechYork committee.

  • Olga Rowe - June 2019

    Olga is a Senior Teaching Laboratory Assistant in the School of Physics, Engineering and Technology. She shares her story of leaving a teaching job in Russia and adapting to life working as a technician in the UK.
  • Jing Wood - May 2019

    Jing is a Waste and Safety Technician in the Department of Chemistry, and shares the work experiences that led her to a job that "was meant to be".

  • Graeme McAllister - April 2019

    Graeme works in the Department of Chemistry as an Experimental Officer, and reflects on the development of his role over almost twenty years, the process of professional registration, and the benefits of involvement with TechYork.
  • Becca Neale - March 2019

    Becca is Apprentice Mechanical Workshop Technician working in the Biology Research Workshop. Her story was also featured in National Apprenticeship Week, and looks at what is involved in her role, and how apprenticeships are succeeding at addressing skills gaps and passing on knowledge.

  • James Fox - My registration story

    James, Laboratory Manager in Biology, shares his experience of applying for professional registration.

  • Abigail Mortimer - June 2018

    • Abigail, Scientific Glassblowing Technician in the Department of Chemistry, explains how she became involved in Technicians Make It Happen and the Technician Commitment project, and shares the timeline of her career since she joined the University.

Career pathways

Secondment experiences

Lucy Hudson, Operations Manager, Biology, has the following advice on secondments:

"Secondments, a chance for general career development, to gain specific experience in a different field or to try something new, returning to your existing job at the end of the secondment.

"As a recruiting manager for five secondments, I can say that the first benefit is meeting and learning about staff across the University who are interested or apply for the posts; a name to a face and learning about their experience, skills, and ambition, all logged for future opportunities.

"Progressing in your career starts with networking, and secondments are part of that process, the opportunity to practice job applications, interview skills, to gain confidence for when ‘the job’ for you is advertised.

"The secondees that joined my team will all say they have learned new skills, gained in confidence, and grown their networks. The advantage for the University, is that secondments help with staff retention, three have successfully applied for higher grade roles, and the other two have that edge when applying for roles in the future with broader experience and skills."