Breanna Woodland always goes the extra mile, and at Sandvik, and her dedication is rewarded. She’s a Tools Sales and Support Representative, travelling to mine sites to clean and inspect rotary drill bits, write customer reports, and provide advice on how to extend the life of the drill bits being used.
A day in the life on the tools
Breanna started at Sandvik as an Inventory Planner, and after about 18 months moved into her current role. She spends her day travelling to mine sites, meeting with the site’s drill and blast superintendent and supervisors and inspecting rotary drill bits.
Breanna will go out into the pit and spend time on the drill rigs. She works directly with drillers to get their feedback on drill bit performance. She then goes to the bit inspection area onsite and cleans the drill bits, inspecting it to understand why it failed, takes photos, and writes up a report to send to the customer. She’ll provide feedback on the drill use, for example they may have been putting too much weight on the bit and to recommend ways of improving the life of the drill bit.
“That’s a big part of the role. We give them a failure analysis, specializing in a particular product and helping them grow with that.”
Breanna enjoys the hands-on nature of the work.
“It is quite dirty. Most rotary bits are filthy, covered in coal and dirt, and there’s grease everywhere.”
How Sandvik train people on the job
Sandvik works hard to train people to a high level – so they feel supported and know how to perform their role. Breanna was lucky that when she joined, her uncle was also working with Sandvik so he took on some of her training.
“He took me out to a couple of my customers’ sites and we went through the process together. I’ve been through training at Sandvik with product specialists, so I can learn how to tell why or how the bit has failed.”
Specializing in a particular product is something Breanna has enjoyed, and she’s always wanted to get into a sales role. Sandvik offered her both!
“I enjoy specializing in one or two products. I get to visit sites and meet new people. When I started with Sandvik, I had never dealt with any of their products. I’m currently specializing in rotary bits but could move to something else in the future.”
There are plenty of opportunities at Sandvik, and as an ambitious woman, Breanna appreciates the possibilities for the future – and the exciting new places her training is taking her.
As part of her training in her first role as an Inventory Planner, Breanna was able to travel to Sweden for training. Sandvik have their head office there, and she underwent a Sandvik induction and received systems training. She also took some extra leave to explore Stockholm while she was there.
Breanna initially had some concerns that she hadn’t come to her role with any drilling experience which meant she didn’t have the same hands-on experience as some other Tools Sales and Support Representatives. But she needn’t have worried!
“I will always admit I’m new and get feedback from someone else if I can’t help out. They’re all super accepting, and a couple of sites have asked me to come out and get on the drill rigs to see what they do.”
Sandvik are deliberately bringing in people through different avenues now, and Breanna is one of their many success stories. They have trained her in the products, how to work with customers, what it’s like working on site. There is plenty of knowledge within Sandvik, and everyone is happy to share it.
“It’s been a good time, and everyone is friendly. It will be good to get more women in the workplace, and especially going out to site roles.”
Thriving at work
Sandvik is growing, and new opportunities are continuously opening up. Because Sandvik has locations all over the world, there are also opportunities to move internationally with the company (when it’s safe to travel again).
Sandvik help their people to thrive, with a friendly, supportive culture and a focus on development. They also reward effort, which Breanna is pleased with.
“Sandvik notice employees who work hard and go the extra mile when doing their job. You do get noticed. It’s a great place to work; we’re growing and there are always new opportunities.”
When she’s not onsite or crafting customer advice, Breanna loves car racing, aerial silks (kind of like acrobatics) and soccer – which she’s been playing for five years – so she definitely keeps busy and active. We can’t wait to see what’s next for Breanna!
