Navigating Future Success: Exploring Career Pathways in Facilities Management

Embarking on the journey of shaping your career path can be both exhilarating and daunting.

If you’ve ever found yourself navigating the maze of career options, and feeling the frustration of uncertainty, you’re not alone. In an ever-evolving job market, how can you fit in? Perhaps everyone around you has been asking you, “So what’s next for you?” We can help illuminate a path to your future, whether or not you have an answer to that question.

Who are we?   

Here’s our elevator pitch: We’re a global facilities services business with over 8,000 customers and 120,000 colleagues across the UK, Europe, APAC and Middle East. Our services include cleaning, catering, pest control, security, hard services, and private and public sector facilities management. Guided by our TRUE Values, we’re on a mission to make people and places the best they can be, becoming the best facilities services business globally.   

But if you’re interested in the longer version, you can learn more about our history, from our humble beginnings in 1900 as a window cleaning company armed with only a ladder, a pail, and a pushcart.   

Now, you might be thinking: “What is facilities management?” Let’s break it down for you. Say you’ve decided to take a day trip to Richmond Park for a bit of fresh air and serenity or you’re live at Etihad Stadium watching Erling Haaland break records for Manchester City; those might seem like two different settings, but we have had a hand in both. We offer a range of services to a diverse customer base to keep their businesses running as best as they can. This can mean diligently trimming hedges at a royal park or providing your favourite footballer with an energy-fuelling meal.   

To summarise, facilities management is all the behind-the-scenes work that makes businesses and infrastructure perform at their optimum.   

Now that you have a picture of the industry and OCS, you might be wondering where you fit in. A lot of important work goes into making people and places their best which means you have many options. Here is what you can do if:   

You are passionate about the environment  

OCS has committed to achieving a net zero carbon target by 2040. With big commitments like this and our vast customer base, you can be part of the efforts to help many organisations improve their energy and environmental practices and make this world a greener place for generations to come. This could see you becoming an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Director, where you forge strategies and policies to make the organisation and our customers’ businesses more sustainable.   

To work your way up to that role you might first study Maths, Chemistry and Physics for A Levels then study Environmental Engineering or a similar university course, after, you might start in our Quality, Health, Safety, and Environment (QHSE) department as an assistant and work your way up within the company. If you’re looking for some inspiration, you can hear from our current ESG Director, Jacky So, on his journey into the role here.  

You have a creative flair   

If you’re a natural-born storyteller, whether you’re a wordsmith blazing through your English essays or you look forward to your art classes where your imaginations come alive when pencil hits paper, OCS has a place for you in our ever-expanding Marketing and Communications department. To join this department, you might take a more traditional path and continue to explore your creative side with A Levels in Media Studies, English and Art, then study anything from Illustration to Creative Writing to a Business Administration and Marketing course at university.   

Or you can take an alternative route and build a portfolio of visual and written work and hone your skills in your chosen area. You can then find yourself working as one of our graphic designers or content writers, helping tell the story of OCS in exciting and compelling ways.  

You love to crunch numbers  

There’s a wide range of career options for you to explore with us if you love numbers. As an accountant or analyst, you can play a crucial role in helping OCS manage its cash flow and evaluate financial performance. You’d start by taking subjects like Maths, Economics and Business Studies at A Levels then go on to study Business or Accounting at university and before you know it, you’d be perched in one of our offices helping us make smart money moves.  

You’re not quite sure university is for you   

If you’re not sure higher education is the path you want to take but still want a fulfilling career, OCS has many pathways for you where you’d care for important spaces, upskill through training and apprenticeships and lead teams to success without needing a degree. For example, you could become one of our invaluable security managers – leading a team of security officers and ensuring safety standards and protocols are met or join our Talent Sourcing team and help build the OCS community.  

These are only a select few routes through which you can join O.C.S. There are still so many other routes you can explore to join the world of Facilities Management, explore our careers page to see what other options might be out there for you.