Why did working at Method appeal to you?
Method jumped out to me due to its company wide focus on sustainability. I studied Geography at University so have always had a keen interest in not only environmental sustainability, but also social and economic, all of which are relevant at Method. Further to this, the flexibility that Method offers in terms of working from where suits you best is incredibly refreshing. I like to go into the office 4/5 days a week, so having the opportunity to work in both the Bristol and Swindon Offices appealed to me.
What happened at your interview?
I did my interview on Teams, it was with the three most senior people in the sustainability team, which I found slightly daunting at first after looking up their Linkedin’s! During the interview they all were lovely, I was asked general questions on myself and the job, what my experience / background was and what about Method interested me. The most notable section however was being asked to produce a 5 minute presentation on a topic of my choosing. In my head everyone would do something mainstream such as their University dissertation – me wanting to be different decided to give Natasha, Emily and Charlotte a crash course in djing…. This is something that I know about so I was able to get my points across clearly, and hopefully they felt the same.
Main responsibilities / Typical day
I wouldn’t say I necessarily have a typical day – most days are very different in the sense of what work I’m doing. Of course every day involves going into the office, catching up with my team and cracking on with work, but one day I may spend all day setting up a new project that we’ve won. Another day may involve reviewing responsible sourcing certificates or working out a problem with a project team or client, and another may revolve around sanitaryware flow rates, either way my days tend to be interesting.
Aidan Davies
What do you enjoy about your job?
I enjoy a few different aspects. In terms of my actual job I like how it challenges me with problems on the regular. I often have to spend time solving issues that require thinking outside of the box. I enjoy communicating with project teams to determine sustainability strategies that are most effective, efficient and achievable. Often project teams will leave sustainability for last so this can be tricky so requires thought and communication. I also enjoy the opportunities my job gives me socially, Method has a great social culture with at least 2-3 social events every month, allowing me to meet people I wouldn’t usually work with outside of the office.
Challenging aspects
Spinning plates. The nature of my job means that you work on lots of projects, many of which at once. This therefore requires very good timekeeping and organisational skills to keep multiple plates spinning at once. This is a skill that you do pick up over time and the only person that can really help you with this is yourself (of course apart from useful advise from those more experienced in your team).
Skills/qualifications learnt at University that you use in your job?
Time management was a big one – working to deadlines at University is very similar to working to project deadlines for this job. Often a lot of work will be due at once, so will require planning to ensure everything is delivered on time.
Training you receive as part of your job
Every day involves training of some manner. More formal training that Method offers includes weekly CPDs and courses. For my role, Method puts me through the BREEAM Assessor course, which I took at the end of the last year to become a qualified BREEAM assessor. Down the line I will hopefully pick up more qualifications in the effort of working towards chartership.
Where do you see yourself in the future?
I hope that I can continue to grow in my job over the next few years, learning more and helping others who start to do the same. With enough experience I would love to look towards being in a leadership role at the company.
Your piece of advice to anyone thinking of going into sustainability.
Learn how to balance having a keen eye for detail whilst seeing the bigger picture. So much of my role involves analysis of detailed things, that form a wider part of sustainability, so its important to pick up on details, whilst not getting bogged down and losing wider progress.