Russell Sim

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT RUSSELL SIM

From my early days of school all my report cards sent to my parents always said “must try harder”. I have taken this into every aspect of my life from work and leisure. Whatever I achieve, I still believe I must try harder to improve. At a young age I never really knew what it was that I wanted to do when I grew up (still not sure if I have ever grown up). It was not until I had my school work experience placement at Bristow Helicopters where I got to experience some mechanical and electronic engineering that I decided on the path my life would take. While I did enjoy the mechanical side of this placement, I do not like having dirty hands so could not deal with the oil and grease. This led me to Aberdeen Technical College to study Electrical and Electronic engineering until I was offered my first job as an Electronic Technician in the oil and gas Industry. At the age of 30 I realised that I was at the maximum age to apply for a working holiday visa in New Zealand and decided to sell up and move away for a while. My plan was to enjoy my love of the outdoors, Snowboard for the winter season, adventure in the hills for a while then move back to the UK after about 6 months to a year. This soon turned into a 4 year stay before returning to the UK. I experienced and gained a lot during my time in New Zealand. From climbing to the crater lake of an active volcano, hiking up and snowboarding back down Mount Doom from The Lord of the Rings movies, made great friends and met my amazing wife.On returning to the UK I had decided to take up a couple of new hobbies to fill in the time while not working. These were brewing beer and running. I think these hobbies work really well together, the running keeps the inevitable beer belly away. To start with I hated running but my “must try harder” belief kept me going. I started off entering 5K runs then had to push myself to a 10K run and this kept going until I completed the Edinburgh marathon in 2019. Everything that I had done and accomplished throughout my life has helped to make me who I am at work and in life. I believe that if you don’t get yourself out there and push boundaries you will never achieve your goals. Oh and yes I was sort of kidnapped in Egypt at the age of 14, happy to fill you in if you want to know more.This is a little bit of my story, what’s yours?