Many young people like Amelia are passionate about their work in the cleaning industry. Doing a degree you love before you get started will be a benefit, not a waste of time. Find out more with BICSc, the British Institute of Cleaning.
AMELIA: From theatre degree to cleaning industry
Hi there, I’m Amelia. I have been in the cleaning industry for nearly three years now and yes, I have an academic qualification.
Is it a qualification that you would normally associate with cleaning? Absolutely not, but I use the skills I learnt in my degree on a regular basis. So, my degree was called ‘Acting for touring theatre’… a fancy title for acting and understanding the workings of a theatre.
A question I get asked all the time is “you have a degree in theatre and yet you aren’t doing anything with that, do you not think that was a waste of time and money” and I smile at them and politely tell them they are wrong.
In theatre and the cleaning industry, you need an eye for detail… and to think on your feet
In my degree the three main things I studied were acting, directing and stage managing in the theatre world. Problems occur all the time, so you have to be able to think on your feet and solve any problems that may come your way. Now, the more organised you are, the less problems you will have -, but you have to be able to work under that pressure and in that fast-paced environment. The days can sometimes be gruelling and long and as we know this can lead to being unmotivated. It is the job of the director to motivate their team, so excellent people skills are needed, they will need to be able to communicate to the cast and crew. Also, as a director you will need to have that eye for detail and a knowledge of health and safety legislations and procedures. Does this all sound familiar?
Training staff – another stage to hone your performance skills
In my previous job as a cleaning supervisor I used all the same skills. Whilst I was walking around my site doing audits I would need that sharp eye for detail, I would have to then communicate with my team on a regular basis and motivate them utilising those people skills again. I used to work on a train station with so many passengers, again a fast-paced environment where anything could go wrong, or a call out would happen. I would then have to prioritise and organise the team to get the task completed.
I had a basic understanding of risk assessments because of the work I did within the theatre as I had to write them myself. I would deliver training to the staff, and for me that was just my stage to perform, so everything I was taught with regards to projection and using pauses to get the audience’s attention all still applied, I just had a slightly different audience and subject matter.
I will even be using all these skills in my new job because that is the beauty of transferrable skills, they can be adapted and used in any job.
In the cleaning industry, a degree isn’t a waste of time. It’s a benefit.
So no, I didn’t waste my money or my time with my degree because I learnt so much and I apply that every day, it just may not be in the conventional way that people expected me to.
