Popular Posts

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

The story of John Black


The Story of John Black, the construction foreman



Upon arrival on site I was greeted by a friendly looking man who introduced himself as John. I could immediately see that John had a sparkle in his eye and absolutely loved his job as construction foreman.

John is a very kind man and he immediately agreed to be interviewed by me and my team.

John was born and bred in Pretoria and says that he will never move away because he loves the atmosphere and people of Pretoria

John’s mother tongue is Afrikaans and he loves it very much. He knows that although the building industry are based on English his fellow employees will also learn to speak Afrikaans if he persists with speaking and promoting Afrikaans amongst them



John wanted to become a Mechanical Engineer since he was a little boy, after school he went to work for a few years so he could save enough mone to enrol himself at Tshwane University of Technology to become a Mechanical Engineer  He started his course with a lot of excitement in 1997 and graduated in 2000 He enjoyed the course very much and was very excited to start working as a Mechanical Engineer. One of his friends asked him one day if he could assist him on one of his building sites. John said that he would love to help his friend, Sad to say... But the building bug bit John on that project and he decided that he liked the building industry more than being a Mechanical Engineer.



John knew that if he wanted to get somewhere in the building industry he had to be very good or specialise in something first He decided that corrugated roofs would be his specialty so he worked the next few years amongst the rafters. He then later decided that he wants to be in charge of a whole project, so he became a construction foreman.



Although being a construction foreman has got both positive and negative sides to it., John feels that both aspects are needed for a healthy and balanced environment. He loves how the building industry gives you a new and exciting challenge every day and that no one project are ever the same. But he also recalls some of the negative aspects to his job. Like, he and his team sometimes have to work in very hars weather conditions such as heavy rain and the hot sun. Another negative he named was working over time. He says that he doesn't like to work over time but he knows that sometimes it is in the best interest of the project to put in some extra hours to get a project back on track.



John knows that teamwork is essential on a building site. That is why he likes to promote good teamwork amongst his fellow employees John lives by the saying “more teamwork, less work”

John have done projects all over Gauteng and says that it is very difficult to name a favourite project because every project has got its ups and downs but if he really had to choose one project that stood out it would be the Saddle brook equestrian estate. He liked the project because of the large budget and the fancy and expensive finishes that was incorporated into the different buildings.



It was a great pleasure to interview John because of his great spirit and passion towards the building industry. We as team wish John all the best of luck in his future as construction foreman and we hope he have a lot more great projects to come in his future.

John learned us that you should never give up on your dreams and that you have to work very hard to accomplish your dreams, but you must also not be blind towards new, better and more exiting opportunities in life

 
John Black 6 February 2015


Du Plessis, Corne. 2015. Personal Interview. 6 February, Pretoria

No comments:

Post a Comment