Kirklees College is extremely proud of the achievements of its students and we’re always keen to hear more about our alumni.
The College has been most distinguished by the achievements of its members in fields including politics, sports, fashion and mathematics to name a few.
Recently we have been in contact with Craig Battye, who studied at the college in 1993, when it was part of Huddersfield Technical College.
Craig started a HNC course in construction and whilst having the option to study at both Bradford or Huddersfield, he chose Kirklees College due to strong ties with the CITB (Construction Industry Training Board).
Speaking about the best parts of his college experience, Craig talked about the college staff and how the support from the excellent and experienced teachers helped build the foundation of his career. He also mentioned he enjoyed the course content and made many new friends during his course.
Utilising his new-found skills and qualifications from the Kirklees College, Craig continued on his career in construction and currently works as a Pre-Construction Director within a successful construction business. His responsibilities include managing the Pre-Construction and Business Development functions out of the North East region of ISG. As well this, Craig manages a team of 26 people. Craig aspires to progress in 5-10 years to a regional manager role and then eventually a chief operating or executive role with full responsibility of delivering a construction business.
When asked what advice would he give to students looking to study the same course, Craig said ‘Unpick your work to not only analyse what you have learned in subject matter but what secondary skills you have learnt such as teamwork, effective communication, task delegation (if team working). also look for areas of improvement as knowledge is only one half of the equation i this industry.
Second piece of advice would be to hone your time management and planning skills. In the delivery of coursework, project work etc. effective plans and monitoring are the key to success. No matter what industry you end up in, people who can plan and manage their workloads effectively make the best managers for the future.’
Craig has progressed tremendously since studying the construction course at Kirklees College, if you’re interested in studying the same course, find out more HERE.