March 04 2021
Julie Hartley, Sales Director at Irizar, writes about the wealth of career opportunities in the bus and coach sector, and the potential for a fulfilling life-long career.
In a week that has seen the chancellor announce funding for the creation of 40,000 new flexi-apprenticeships, passenger transport and in-particular the bus and coach sector, can offer a multitude of opportunities.
Apprenticeships offer a different, vocational route to employment for education leavers – learning the essential skills necessary for a successful career and giving the option of multiple routes into different business areas.
With rapidly accelerating technology and a drive for cleaner, greener methods of transport, the 2020’s will be a decade of change within bus and coach, seeing a move from established diesel engine vehicles to new 100% emission free drivelines including electric and hydrogen.
It’s an exciting time to be involved in the vehicle supply side of the industry, which is starting to see the biggest shift since the combustion engine replaced the horse and carriage over 100 years ago.
Within a dealer or manufacturer, opportunities can be extensive. On the commercial side of the business sales and marketing roles are customer focussed and can help to influence the change, learning about the technology and working closely with finance providers and infrastructure companies enable the change to take place. Marketing communication is also undergoing significant change as digital media really comes of age, changing how we interact with each other both personally and commercially.
At the forefront of driving a cleaner future is research and development and engineering – the pace of transition is increasing and offers young people the chance to start a career in a hugely challenging and ultimately rewarding sphere, developing solutions that will positively impact generations to come.
And as more and more green vehicles take to the roads, established workshop practices will need to adapt with fleet engineers moving from a knowledge base of traditional diesel repair and maintenance processes, to an entirely new understanding of vehicle operation and a broader range of developing technologies.
Ultimately, the bus and coach sector is about people. People moving people - be that to school or work, for leisure, to sporting events or fulfilling the dream of a holiday. It’s an industry that has longevity with the potential for a life-long career, as populations will continue to have a need to travel and buses and coaches offer a sustainable solution for the long term.
Passenger transport offers a great opportunity for a fulfilling career across the full spectrum of companies involved in it – whether that is supplying the bus or coach, operating the service, or supporting the operators in a variety of ways within this exciting industry.
The door is open – step on board for a warm welcome.