Meet Connor Ryan-Wills, a Rail Mounted Excavator Operator in Christchurch.

Connor completed the Road Ready programme in Christchurch in November 2023. He had been working as a building apprentice and had experience as a mechanic, but he wasn’t growing in the way he wanted, and was aiming to make a change while still using some of the skills he had acquired.

Roady Ready is a fully-funded pre-employment programme run by Downer in partnership with Ministry of Social Development; providing training, skill development and personal skills getting participants ready to start in full-time employment and a career with Downer.

Tell us about the role you’re in now you’ve completed the programme.

I’m going into Downer as a rail digger operator, or a plant operator. That’s just a couple of different ways of referring to the same role.

We’ve started off by levelling up in skills. We’ve been doing site safe training, first aid training and working at heights. We’ve been upskilling so that when we start work we won’t be walking around like we don’t know what we’re doing – which I’m sure we could still be! But I know it’s going to be sweet.

What have been the Road Ready highlights?

We’ve been looked after very well, getting what feels like three-course meals every day, which has been great – it really keeps our moods up.

We’ve been learning the basics of Downer in itself. It’s given me a very good understanding of how the company operates, how professional it is and the standards that we all abide by.

How are you feeling about the whole experience, and about starting your new role?

As everyone does, you get a little bit of nervousness, but the first days are always like that. But I’m feeling very well prepared and excited to work with the team that I’ll be working with. I’ve met one or two of them already, which is great and yeah, I can’t wait to get in.

I’m feeling confident, and this experience has been very swift. The rate that it’s been moving at is something that I’m quite impressed with. It’s like boom, interviews happened, background checks, medicals, boom, boom, boom. It all happened within a couple of weeks!

This first induction week really just ties off everything else that we’ve been aiming to get. Any extra tickets people can get in their wheels, tracks and rollers, and they’re road ready.

On the Monday we learned all about Downer and got a good gist of where we were heading. On Tuesday, the people working on the roads got all their tickets for Traffic Management. Then Wednesday was health and safety and our First Aid training course. On Thursday we did our Working at Heights training, which was really, really interesting. So yeah, there’s a lot more than what most people think. It’s prepared us so that we are safe, we can keep others safe and that we know the basics for starting work.

Would you recommend joining Downer through Road Ready programme to others?

One hundred per cent, yes! It’s more or less four or five days, but it prepares you. It makes you feel good and prepared for your start in the job. I’d definitely recommend it every time.

A few months after your programme, how is the job going?

It’s been sweet. We have big weeks and some long days and we’re thrown right into it.

In this work you have to adapt all the time so I’m always learning new things. I’m warming up to my role and getting into the Kiwirail side of the job. I’ve been getting good feedback from people here about how I’m doing too, and soon I’ll be starting a 3-year civil construction apprenticeship.

Learn more here about all of our ground-breaking Corporate Social Outcomes programmes.