• Home
• Blog
• What's it like to be a Master Technician?

What's it like to be a Master Technician?

18th Nov 2019

Wondering what it would be like to work as a Master Technician? We interviewed Glenn Makin, Master Technician at Jaguar Land Rover Nottingham, to find out.

What are the main responsibilities of your role?

"As a Master Technician at Stratstone Land Rover Nottingham I am responsible for managing the workflow across our workshop and driving a team of 16 technicians to meet their goals and targets.

I work with the wider dealership team to support our Head of Business with any customer concerns; resolving mechanical issues quickly, resulting in minimal impact to our customers. Also, I oversee the training of all of our technicians, coaching them day-to-day and ensuring they are motivated to learn more and develop new skills in our ever-changing industry.

Every day is different and the new challenges we face inspire the whole team to come into the workshop every day."

What are the most significant challenges you face in your field of work?

"Across the automotive industry, technology is constantly changing so our technicians need to be equipped with the training and skills to ensure we stay at the top of our game.

New technologies are being introduced by manufacturers and it’s certainly an exciting time for the sector. We’re seeing a move away from diesel to petrol-hybrid and fully electric vehicles. With these types of vehicles there is no margin for error as you’re dealing with electronics and batteries so training is definitely key.

At Stratstone we have a strong family atmosphere so sharing skills between team members certainly helps to overcome these challenges. If someone has had experience working with a particular type of technology before, we will listen and learn from them."

How might these challenges be overcome?

"The industry definitely has challenging times ahead but these challenges can be overcome by ensuring our team members are continually trained to a high standard, enabling them to work effectively and adapt to new technologies.

Change is the one constant in our industry and by having a team who are confident and highly skilled ensures we’re in a much better position to adapt to the new technologies.

A number of years ago we set out a plan to continuously develop our team so they always have opportunities to learn more and stay at their peak performance. We’ve had great success with this model as the team are passionate about training and we’ve even had one of our apprentices, Mike Wright, crowned the Global JLR Apprentice of the Year 2018, an achievement we were all very proud of."

What attracted you to this area of expertise?

"From a young age I have always been interested in anything related to engineering and how things work, particularly with cars. I started in the motor trade when I was 16 and my first job was at a small garage with a mechanic who knew everything about old engines – a true mechanical expert.

This inspired me to specialise in the field, mixing my passion for the Land Rover brand and my love of engineering. I have been with Stratstone for over 17 years and my role has grown so much over that time. It’s rewarding to see new talent coming in and putting the skills you’ve taught them into practice.

There’s always something new at Land Rover which definitely makes work exciting. The new Jaguar Land Rover Arch sites are something I’m really looking forward to as the opportunity to get to work across both brands and continue to broaden our skills is exciting."

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned in your career and how have you made use of it in your current role?

"One thing someone once said to me was that ‘no matter how much you know, you will never know it all’ and I believe that learning is definitely key.

Knowing how to do a job is not just what it’s about, you also need to have the drive and passion to want to learn more. I’m not afraid of learning new skills and challenging myself. This is something I try to instil in our apprentices and new technicians as we want to nurture them so they have the best training opportunities and chances to grow.

I try to challenge the workshop team to learn more all the time and share their skills as this ensures everyone can pull together to get a job done."

Quick-fire questions:

What drives you?

"Wanting to learn more – I try to learn something new every day. I also have a wife and four children so my family drives me to do more."

What’s your favourite app?

"WhatsApp – this is a life saver at work, sharing photos of technical fixes across the team."

How do you relax?

"I start everyday with the gym and this gets me set up for the day at work – I then look forward to a relaxing evening at home with my family."

Interested in starting a career as a Technician for Stratstone or applying for the role of Master Technician? Take a look at our current career opportunities if you think you have what it takes to follow in Glenn's footsteps.