Felix Gunnarsson and Karl Jansson went straight from upper secondary school to working as electricians at Holtab. During their time at the company, they have learned more and more with the help of experienced colleagues.
“If you make it clear that you can and want to learn something new, you’re given the opportunities to grow at Holtab,” says Karl Jansson.
“Especially after you’ve settled in and can take on a bit more responsibility,” says Felix Gunnarsson.
DID NOT KNOW WHAT KIND OF CAREER THEY WANTED
When Felix and Karl attended upper secondary school, they had no idea what kind of career they wanted. They say they weren’t very technically minded. Today they’re both working as leading fitters. Felix is heading towards a new role in sales support.
He studied a combination of electricity and IT in upper secondary school.
”My brother was hired as an electrician at Holtab, and I did an internship with him – that’s how I became interested in Holtab. Then I got a summer job.”
Karl:
”I studied electricity and energy, focusing on energy, so electricity wasn’t even my major. Nor did I know what kind of career I wanted and I didn’t know much. I just thought it was fun to tinker with electrical items and hopefully make them work.”
LEARNING LITTLE BY LITTLE
You learn to be an electrician from working with more experienced colleagues. When you’re good and a fast learner, you can take on increasingly difficult products over time. Changing departments is also a great way to learn more.
”After learning about the products, the next step is to test them before they go out to the customers. Later, you learn more about how they function and how the things you assemble work. Another step is leading fitter. That’s when you’re responsible for the workflow in a large project,” says Karl.
The products are designed, assembled and tested at Holtab’s factory in Tingsryd, before being delivered to customers.
“AN EXCITING FIELD”
Neither Felix nor Karl are working towards any particular dream position, they’re just taking it one step at a time instead.
“Its about seeing where you may end up. Once you are comfortable in your role, you can keep an eye on internal job ads and take the next step. Holtab is keen to retain competent staff,” they say.
Why do you think training as an electrician is worth investing in?
”It’s an industry for the future, of course. Automation is growing at extremely high rates in all fields. It will require more and more skills,” says Karl.
”It’s an exciting field, in which many new products are being developed. For example, we tested products in Norway a few years ago. Today, we manufacture and supply them ourselves,” says Felix.
FACTS:
Name: Felix Gunnarsson
Professional Role: Leading electrical fitter, on the way to a new job in sales support at Holtab
Lives: Karlshamn
Before Holtab: Upper secondary school education with a specialisation in IT and electricity.
Leisure: Spends a lot of time with his partner’s horses and plays computer games.
Name: Karl Jansson
Professional Role: Leading electrical fitter at Holtab
Lives: Karlshamn
Before Holtab: Upper secondary school education with a specialisation in energy and electricity.
Leisure: Active in a theatre company, plays the trumpet in an orchestra.
This article is part of the #WorkingAtHoltab series – read more articles here.
