A New Life:When Tom Colbert was made redundant, an advertisement in a local newspaper opened up a new career as an air-traffic controller, he tells Michael Kelly.
What do you do when you are made redundant from a job that you've been in for 20 years? Is it possible to change careers when you are pushing 40 and the experience on your CV seems to act like a strait-jacket?
These were some of the questions faced by Tom Colbert when he was made redundant from a middle-management role with Waterford-based toy manufacturer Hasbro last year.
"I started there in 1987 as a general operative and worked my way up eventually to warehouse supervisor," he says. "I was also a forklift driving instructor for the company.
"Around Christmas 2006 they announced 150 job cuts and my job was made redundant. I suppose I could have looked for work elsewhere in the company but I decided to take my chances."
He had mixed feelings about leaving. "It was a huge shock at the time but I was also excited. I spent years saying that I'd love to get out of there and do something different but I never did anything about it.
"You become institutionalised and you just do what you know. The day I left I was quite emotional thinking that I would never be in there again. You spend 20 years in a place and you make really good friends. I went home and brought the dog for a walk and I was thinking - what am I going to do now?"
The initial excitement quickly gave way to fear and uncertainty about the future.
"It was fine over Christmas but in January when my wife went back to work and our daughter went back to school, I was in the house with nothing to do and it really started to hit home.
"Financially, things weren't too bad because the redundancy gave us a bit of comfort but it wasn't a case of being able to retire or anything like that. My expertise was with logistics, so your CV ends up pigeonholing you.
"I was sending it to manufacturing plants in the area and getting back the usual letters saying, 'We will keep it on file.' I was down to the last two for a warehouse manager's job in Clonmel but I didn't get it and while I was disappointed, to be honest I hadn't been all that excited by the prospect."
As it happens, it was just as well he didn't get that job. Reading the recruitment pages in his local paper, Colbert came across an ad for an air-traffic controller job in Waterford Airport. "As soon as I saw it, I thought 'God, I would love to do that'. My hobby is aviation and the space programme. I used to take days off to go home and watch the shuttle take-off on the internet and I've read Nasa engineering reports and all that stuff.
"My daughter says that I'm a right nerd. I applied for the job but felt I hadn't a hope in hell."
In February 2007 he was called for an interview. "I had nothing to lose so I wasn't really nervous going in to the interview. I just thought, get in there and sell yourself as best you can. There were some aviation related questions which I was able to answer so I was delighted with how it went."
Following an aptitude test with the Irish Aviation Authority in Dublin and a second interview, Colbert was offered the job. "I was totally shocked. I just couldn't believe that it had worked out."
The first step in his training was an eight-week theory course at Sligo Airport. "I was the oldest and the only one who was completely green. On the first day we all had to introduce ourselves. They all had some aviation experience and then I was saying 'Hi, I'm Tom. I used to teach lads how to drive forklifts.' I was really coming from behind compared to the rest of the guys."
Training then moved to Rudloe College in Shoreham, near Brighton for 10 weeks of simulator work. "We were studying emergency scenarios, what ifs - that sort of thing. It was very intense but very enjoyable. After that I was back in Waterford for four months of on-the-job training."
Last month, Colbert passed his final exams with the Irish Aviation Authority. So what's the job like?
"Basically we are responsible for the safety of all aircraft on the ground and in the air in the Waterford Control Zone, which is a radius of 10 miles and up to 5,000 ft. It is controlled airspace, so craft cannot enter or leave without our permission.
"Shannon will hand over inbound flights to us about 15 minutes before landing, maybe at 8,000 ft and 30 miles out."
Though small, Waterford Airport is getting busier all the time, according to Colbert. "We have about eight scheduled flights a day at the moment with Aer Arann to the UK and then for the summer season there are flights to Amsterdam, Faro, Malaga, Lorient and Bordeaux.
"There are training colleges here for commercial and private pilots and the Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue helicopters are also based here. On top of that you have all the private stuff, executive jets and helicopters - everybody seems to have helicopters these days. That all adds up to a lot of traffic."
You get the impression when talking to Colbert of a man who can't quite believe his luck. "It's amazing the way things work out. I always wonder when I pass a graveyard, how many unfulfilled dreams are buried under the ground there?
"Imagine if the advertisement for this job had been in the paper a few months earlier or if I hadn't been let go from Hasbro? This is a brand new life for me, a completely new world."