Here at The Missing Link, our people are the engine of our company. We’re immensely proud of their knowledge and expertise, which helps our clients achieve incredible things through IT transformation – but they’re so much more than their job description! In this series, we take a moment to sit down and discuss the weird, wacky, and wonderful parts of our team’s lives that make them who they are.
That's why we recently caught up with Gareth Rees, a Service Delivery Manager on our growing team in the UK, to learn more about who he is as a person, both on and off the job.
So, tell us, what was your dream job while growing up?
I had two diametrically opposed dream jobs, one was to be a Disney animator and work on designing characters for new films, the other was to follow my dad's footsteps and join the military to see the world and jump out of airplanes.
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That sounds like a lot of fun! What was your first job and what's your career progression been like?
The good old paper round. I'm not sure they exist in the same way anymore, but I had loads; morning round, evening round, and several Sunday rounds. For me, if someone was going to pay me to run around that was absolutely fine with me - well that's what I would tell myself when the weather was grim at least.
I didn't go the Disney route but I did go the military route for 13 years, then since leaving the Army I've had exposure to a variety of roles and industries.
What led you to joining The Missing Link and what do you love most about your role?
I was working for another Australian Technology company at the time when I heard about The Missing Link from a former colleague. Cyber security had been a route that I'd wanted to take for ages, but wasn't sure on how to step across. I guess the universe decided to give me a helping hand and line things up for me. The rest as they say is history.
I'm a Service Delivery Manager and I love working with my customers to ensure that they are always left with a smile on their face from what we do at The Missing Link. I really enjoy understanding my customer's issues so that the team and I can make sure our solution is absolutely spot on.
Do you have any inspirations / role models in your professional life?
To be fair that's a very difficult question to narrow down as I have met so many outstanding people and been fortunate enough to have the pleasure of working with them. If I look at the SOC Team I currently work with, there are so many brilliant individuals from the leadership down, it would be a bit unfair to single any one person out.
Outside of work, what can you generally be found doing on the weekends?
Definitely being outdoors, lately this has been building dry stone walls and landscaping the garden, but if I am not improving the home I can generally be found out roaming the local hills.
Currently I have 30 chickens of various sizes, colours and personalities; a hoard of wild ducks who have taken up residence on the lawn thanks to the wife's dutiful feeding schedule; and a cat called Thor. Hopefully we should be adding a dog to the menagerie before too long.
Do you consider yourself a tech-freak (devices, games, anything) and what is your favourite gadget?
The rest of the team will probably roll their eyes when they read this, but I like good old fashioned Football Manager games, or a short-blast on a retro game like Command and Conquer.
My Coros smartwatch, the level of detail and accuracy I get from tracking my workouts, runs, and general activity is brilliant. The sleep tracking is probably the best I've come across to date.
Any fun experiences you will never forget?
When doing a night dive off the Great Barrier reef in Australia, I convinced the crew to turn the light off on the hull for a few minutes whilst we descended - as a result we were weightless, floating in complete darkness - nearest I've ever come to being an astronaut.
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