Rats, mice, bedbugs and cockroaches – not something every girl dreams of and if you had told me a few years ago that I would be joining a graduate scheme to train as a pest control technician, I would have found it difficult to believe. But I've been trying to get to grips with the world of pests and thoroughly enjoying myself for the past two years now.
From a very young age I was addicted to crime programmes like Quincy, Murder, She Wrote and Poirot. My mother always tells me that I was a very inquisitive child. I seemed to have a fascination with piecing together the different parts of a puzzle to figure out why and how something happened – always fixing things, solving problems and generally being a bit nosey.
As I grew older my curiosity worsened, so I decided to apply for work experience placements with police forensic staff at Ilford and Barkingside police stations. I was successful and it was a fantastic experience, being able to shadow the staff there and get an insight into analysing evidence.
After graduating I joined the forensic science service homicide and violent team in Huntingdon as a forensic analyst. I worked there for about a year: it was an incredible learning curve as I got stuck into the evidence and was accountable for the recovery, examinations and tests.
Unfortunately, however, at the beginning of 2011 I was made redundant and had to explore other avenues. While searching online for jobs for forensic science graduates, I came across the Rentokil management programme.
Although this was very different to my previous job, I soon realised that the skills needed for pest control and the ones required for forensics aren't that different at all – it's all down to a curious nature. Both occupations require similar approaches in the day-to-day work: you need to analyse evidence and use the results to get to the core of a problem, devise the next steps to solve it and prevent it from happening again. Both benefit from a science background to analyse and evaluate evidence.
Something I've learned from my experiences in the past couple of years is to never turn an opportunity down because you think it's too different from what you're used to. I was uncertain when I first saw the Rentokil scheme, but I began to realise how my skills and previous training would transfer well.
Ten years ago the pest control industry was definitely male dominated. In the last couple of years, however, this has changed significantly and it will continue to do so. When I started at Rentokil, I was the only girl in London but that's not the case any anymore. That said, a lot of people still think women are not as well-suited to the job as they are more squeamish. This couldn't be further from the truth.
Occasionally customers request a female technician: maybe we are thought to be friendlier and chattier. It also seems that women are called more often for high-profile customers – I'm not too sure why this is the case. Generally speaking, women are physically smaller than men and that enables us to be more flexible and fit into smaller spaces.
It may sound obvious, but you really do need to be able to deal with a variety of pests – you have to be prepared for anything. My favourite pest would have to be a rat. They're extremely intelligent and seem to always know what you are thinking. I was at a training session the other day and we had to get into a pen full of rodents. I think most people would find that horrific, but I thought it was great. I generally don't have a least favourite but if I had to choose it would be cockroaches.
It's also vital to be inquisitive. You need to have the desire to solve problems and find the source to prevent them from reoccurring. Having a good science background is obviously important: environmental science and forensic science degrees are the most useful for this specific job.
You also need to be nosy and want to find out how to fix problems and ultimately be prepared to face anything – in this line of work no two days are the same; one day you might be dealing with a rodent infestation and the next with bed bugs. Pest control can also involve quite demanding physical work, so it's important to be prepared for this. I would recommend trying to set up placements in your local area as it allows you to have a clearer idea of what a career in this field would be like. Also, look for a well-established graduate scheme.
My family are extremely proud of me and what I have achieved. Sometimes I find it quite funny when people approach me at family events for advice on how to deal with different infestations. If I'm walking down the street in my uniform, people sometimes stop me and ask for advice. I do find this a little strange, but flattering at the same time.
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