Three questions for Gert
After more than 43 years in the trade, Gert still can’t stop talking about copper work and fault finding. As a Technical Supervisor at Hanab Connectivity Solutions, he supports colleagues with his knowledge and inspires the team with his enthusiasm.
Bringing positivity, helping others and involving everyone
When do you go home feeling satisfied?
“No fault is ever the same. One day you’re working in a care home where you have to organise all sorts of things, the next you’re working outdoors under a motorway.
Especially with difficult jobs, that’s when I feel proud. Sometimes you think beforehand: how are we going to pull this off? And when it all works out and everything is up and running again, that’s when you go home with a good feeling.”
What do you mainly learn through experience rather than from books?
“In books, you often see the ideal situation. But in practice, cables are close together or located differently from what’s shown on the drawings.
Through experience, you learn how to deal with that and where to look. You learn how to read drawings, make connections and understand more quickly where a fault might come from. Because a fault never just happens.
That’s something you only learn by doing the job.”
What does good collaboration look like to you?
“I try to bring positivity to the team and get people involved. I help colleagues as much as possible with my knowledge and experience, so new people can also learn the trade properly.
Safety is always the priority: we either work safely, or we don’t work at all. If you support each other and are aligned, the work simply runs better.”