If you operate in and around Bristol and you’ve called Cleankill Pest Control, formerly Good Riddance Pest Control, the chances are you’ve met our surveyor, Samantha Virgo. She’s been working in the pest management industry for three years, but her introduction to the sector happened in a roundabout way.
I’ll let her tell you how she got into pest control; it just goes to show how important transferable skills are in the modern workplace.
Take-offs and landings
At 18, I started working as cabin crew based out of Gatwick and Heathrow, flying with TUI and Virgin Atlantic to over 20 global destinations. Over the years, I worked everything from Economy to First Class, and served every type of customer you can imagine, and some you probably wouldn’t want to! Cabin crew training isn’t easy but, as with most careers, it still doesn’t fully prepare you for the realities of the job. Every single day at work, you learn, you adapt, and you improve your skills.
In fact, my introduction to pest control actually happened during my time in the airline industry. Sometimes foreign creepy crawlies are brought on board with the luggage and so it is essential to ensure the aircraft is pest-free before departure. I saw one airplane in Barbados undergo a full fumigation. It’s quite a sight when you’re not familiar with that process, seeing someone dressed from head to toe in PPE/RPE and spraying the aircraft. I felt like I was an extra in Outbreak!
In certain areas of the world, mosquitos and other insects carry diseases. Cabin crew are therefore trained to use residual insecticide spray canisters. This became an area of interest for me, and I was always asking what the pest technicians were doing, often bugging them more than the bugs.
Let’s not forget the pests you come across during foreign layovers. These are often a thousand times scarier that the pests we have in the UK. And don’t even get me started on the spiders I saw in Kenya and the Caribbean!
None of this put me off.
Onward and upwards
After 7 years as a cabin attendant, I felt it was time for a new challenge. I knew that I needed a role that incorporated the elements of being cabin crew that I loved most – different every day, face-to-face customer interaction, and adapting to the needs of the individual. Helping customers is what I do best, so I needed to find a role that gave me that same satisfaction. So, after leaving cabin crew, I fell into pest control!
I took my RSPH Level 2 Award in Pest Management through the British Pest Control Association and made the move from Sussex to Bristol, which is where my life as a surveyor started.
You might think these roles are worlds apart, and in some ways they are. But there are also many similarities. Pests can be distressing to some customers and so using the skills I learnt while on board an aircraft at 30,000ft has helped me to bring a supportive and caring element to the surveyor role. You also need to be resilient, hands on, positive and good at solving issues. Most of all, you need to be cool, calm and collected in tricky situations.
They say variety is the spice of life. Being a part of cabin crew is varied and so is my surveyor role – one day it’s a rat infestation and the next it’s pigeons roosting under solar panels. Both roles also make you brand ambassadors. As a cabin attendant, it was for TUI or Virgin, and as a pest control surveyor, it’s Cleankill. Working for a company I believe in is something that has always made me proud.
So, whether you need me down on the floor checking for rats or up on your roof looking at your pigeons, I can always guarantee I’ll be doing it with that famous friendly flight attendant smile!
About Cleankill
Cleankill Pest Control is an award-winning pest control business with offices across the south of England and a team covering Bristol. We specialise in helping businesses protect themselves from public health pests such as mice, rats, cockroaches and pest birds. We pride ourselves on offering fast and efficient service delivery and are recognised as a market leader for ‘green’ and innovative pest control methods. We are also licensed waste removers.
From our Bristol office, formerly Good Riddance Pest Control, we cover most of Gloucester, Bristol, Bath and Somerset.
Go to www.cleankill.co.uk for more information and email info@cleankill.co.uk for a free pest control survey or cost comparison.
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