Meet TeamMK – Steve, Service Engineer

By Sally Antilles | November 8, 2019

This article was first published in 2019, when Steve Mills was part of MK Test’s Service team as a Service Engineer. We caught up with Steve to talk about his average working day, which he revealed is often fuelled by Squaddie bars which he buys from the canteen at his main customer’s site.

A rare day in the office

It’s unusual for Steve to be on-site, so he asked to have his interview at the same time as he carried out some testing with a colleague to make the most of being at MK HQ.

The interview took place on the factory floor and throughout our conversation he and his colleague were constantly calling across test point numbers and references – this man can multi-task!

How long have you worked at MK Test Systems?

Since July 2018,so around a year.

Are you local? Where are you from?

I’m from Gloucestershire. Have I ever lived in Somerset? No…[at this point, the colleague Steve was working with called over “We wouldn’t let him!”]

What do you enjoy most about being a Service Engineer?

Being away from here! Joking aside, I really enjoy being out and about; life on the road suits me. I’ve pretty much had this type of job most of my career, so I’ve done quite a bit of travelling.

What’s the furthest you’ve travelled for your job?

Furthest was Rosyth in Scotland, just outside Edinburgh. I prefer driving up there to flying, as it means I can arrange to visit other customers along the route – a grand tour! It means I’m away for a few days but it’s better than wasting time hanging around at the airport.

What’s a typical working day for you?

I spend more time driving than I do with customers! A typical working day is getting up in the morning, getting in the car and driving to visit a customer.

I’m usually just there to carry out a simple calibration. I make sure the system’s working alright, do the calibration and then drive home.

99% of the time customers are happy to see me as I’m there to help them.

How has MK Test Systems changed since you started working here?

I started at the old premises so it’s changed considerably. (MK Test Systems moved into a purpose-built facility in 2018).

Change-wise in my job, there hasn’t been a great deal of change except when my colleague joined so we became a team of Service Engineers – that has been great. We talk throughout the day when we can. With bigger customers we’re sometimes on their site at the same time, so we meet up.