The Field Engineer

30/10/2026

Mastering the Field Service Visit - Essential Communication Skills

Guy Eid and Caroline Gregory tackle an important topic today for field engineers which is about communication.

As we know field engineers are people who go on site to service customers, and it is important for them to be ready before they go and to be presentable and show up professionally.

In particular where the field engineers might be outside their normal territory. They might be replacing someone. They might be arriving in a country that they are visiting. How should they communicate to handle those situations appropriately.

Caroline Gregory is the Community Manager of The Field Engineer community, where she is working with members from over 110 countries.

Caroline has been teaching expats, and inpats, cultural business skills for over thirty years. She has worked with major businesses including Unilever, the UK MoD, BP, Total Energy, and Siemens, through her business Intercultural Success.

Feel free to contact Caroline if your business has intercultural challenges.

Guy Eid is a highly experienced Field Service Leader originally from Lebanon, who has been living in Canada for many years and has many years of working with many cultures.

Thanks to Caroline and Guy for this great informative discussion.

Watch the discussion on The Field Engineer Podcast on YouTube by following the link below.

https://youtu.be/N0PvU6s_3oA?si=CceMePdtmw1P7B1K

The discussion is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

23/10/2026

Securing the Best Field Service Talent After the First Cut

You’ve wrapped up initial interviews and narrowed down your applicant pool—now what? In this episode, we dive into the critical next steps of the hiring process for field service engineers and leaders. Learn how to design an effective second round, spot the green flags that signal true operational excellence, and confidently make the final hiring decision. Tune in to discover the ultimate strategies for securing the best field service talent after the first cut.
With Guy Eid, Bruce Breeden, and Charlie Apps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p6pqDfU5TA

This is the third part of a series of round table discussions. So do watch the other videos in the series.

Our Podcasts are also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

You can join The field Engineer community here,
https://thefieldengineer.com/register/

And our Facebook community here,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2261924563957562/

You’ve wrapped up initial interviews and narrowed down your applica...

15/10/2026

Seven Field Service leaders, Guy Eid, Vikram Bhasker, Arnaud BILLARD, Paul Camidge, Maurizio De Poli, Jerome Varvaro, and Charlie Apps, discuss 'How to get interviewed'.

The seven field service leaders share what they look for when they are shortlisting job applications.

Watch their discussion to learn the traits, tactics, and methods you can use to get your name on the interview shortlist.

Thanks to everyone involved in The Field Engineer Podcast's service leader roundtables. We know how hard it is for many of you to find time in your busy schedules to carve out time to join these roundtables.

Special thanks to Guy Eid for your tenacity in rounding up a sufficient number of service leaders to make for a good roundtable discussion.

Sometimes just getting three people to join can be a challenge. So, getting seven leaders on one roundtable was quite an achievement.

Click the link to watch on The Field Engineer YouTube Channel

https://youtu.be/UY9u6AdMD-4

Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

You can join The field Engineer community here,
https://thefieldengineer.com/register/

And our Facebook community here,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2261924563957562/

07/10/2026

Putting People First in Field Service A Conversation with Arnaud BILLARD is our first interview in French, with the expert guidance of Guy Eid.

Our French title is 'Placer l'humain au cœur du service sur le terrain, une conversation avec Arnaud Billard'.

With over 17 years leading large-scale service organizations across Europe and EMEA, Arnaud Billard specializes in service transformation, customer experience (CX) and the design of operating models that turn service functions into genuine value creators. His career spans medical devices, diagnostics, pharmaceutical and broader life sciences with roots in the automotive sector where he built his foundation in operational excellence and lean methodologies. Rigorous process discipline in service of human outcomes not as an end in itself. Arnaud has led post-acquisition integrations, digitalization programmes, field service optimization, and the evolution of multicultural service organizations across Europe, with P/L accountability and a focus on sustainable growth.

Watch the discussion on YouTube here,
https://youtu.be/JoPYiCwzVm8?si=L0OgwHCnspNrxjwB

Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

You can join The field Engineer community here,
https://thefieldengineer.com/register/

And our Facebook community here,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2261924563957562/

05/10/2026

Supply Chain Management is critical for field service engineers. Global politics, trade wars, real wars, and conflicts, all impact the ability of service and installation operations to function successfully.

We recently interviewed ⁠Matthew Guy Gallardo⁠ who is a Global Spare Parts Planner at CooperSurgical on ⁠The Field Engineer⁠ Podcast.

In 2024 ⁠Charlie Apps⁠ interviewed ⁠Rosemary Coates⁠ for The Field Engineer Podcast to discuss global supply chains, SCM, reshoring, and the aftermath of the Covid pandemic.

Two years on global supply chains are being challenged even
more than they were in 2024. So, The Field Engineer asked ⁠Rosemary Coates⁠
to meet with us again and share her insights on the current state of the Global
Supply Chain for field services, installations, and after market management.

Caroline Gregory of The Field Engineer speaks to Rosemary Coates about Global Supply Chains and Field Service Excellence.

Rosemary Coates has an MBA and started her career in logistics for HP. She then built an extensive career in global supply chain. Rosemary is an author and has written books about manufacturing, including 42 rules for superior field service. She is an experienced speaker and serves as an expert witness globally. Rosemary was named as one of the hundred most influential women in Silicon Valley in 2024.

Reshoring Institute

In 2014 we started the Reshoring Institute which is a research institute but we also help companies think through their global manufacturing strategy and help them determine if they can can re-establish any kind of manufacturing in the US or to rethink their global strategy. And that's really important these days because of the geopolitics. So you have to I mean companies have to be nimble and able to sort of turn on a dime when there's some geopolitical situation that forces them to make different sourcing decisions and you know different operational decisions.

The importance of field service

I always start with the context that field service doesn't get enough attention in most organizations. you know it can be a fairly significant amount of revenue that's generated through field service and yet the field service organizations do not normally report into the very senior levels in an organization. They're usually a level or two down and and even though they're representing not only a significant revenue stream but they're really the voice of the customer. I mean the field service people are out there talking to customers every day and we should be listening to what they're saying, what feedback they're getting and so forth that would help drive you know the product development marketing you know there's all sorts of parts of the organization that would benefit from the information that’s gathered through field service. So I always start with that context that field service is really important to most organizations and is not getting enough attention and we need to drive the awareness of field service organizations to a more senior level.

To watch follow the link:

https://youtu.be/4eZGv_ov7dk?si=xsHjDwqZ4DWM5Ulk

You can join The field Engineer community here,
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And our Facebook community here,
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29/09/2026

A former US Army Biomed now in Healthcare Technology

What is it like to work as a Biomed (Biomedical Equipment Technician) in the US Army, then in medical centres and then move into aspects of education, recruitment, and cybersecurity?

In 2023, Jewel (J.C.) Newell shared the answer to this based on her experience working in healthcare in the military and in civilian life. J.C. is passionate about Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) and is one of the Co-Founders of I-HTM.

Changes in Biomed Recruitment

How have you seen recruiting change over the last three years?
Recruiting has changed so much over the past three years. The industry used to be so desperate for technicians that they gave anyone an opportunity. However, today, the profession is looking at the recruit as if to ask,
“What are you doing to enhance yourself to be a fit for our organisation?”
These days new graduates are doing more to be prepared for the workforce, such as getting their CABT (Certified Associate in Biomedical Technology), taking Imaging courses, shadowing at hospitals to gain more experience, and even creating Instagrams, YouTubes, and TikToks to promote themselves.
What do you see as the significant changes coming next?
Next year, we will see a broader use of AI in HTM. Technicians will be using AI tools such as Co Pilot, Chat GPT and Claude for troubleshooting strategies, completing work order notes, and writing reports.

I-HTM

I-HTM was a project founded by my good friend and mentor Almetha Ford. She passed away recently and we are struggling to find a way to keep I-HTM within the vision that she had for it. She and I aligned so much on what we wanted to see in our industry, an HTM resource where all healthcare technologies had a resource and space for education, training, and collaboration. It is and was a passion of ours that we were able to birth into being. My hope is that with the remaining co-founders, we can achieve that goal.

To read the full article, follow the link:
https://thefieldengineer.com/blog/industry-sector/medical/j-c-newell-a-former-us-army-biomed-who-turned-disaster-in-to-a-career-in-healthcare-technology/

You can join The field Engineer community here,
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And our Facebook community here,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2261924563957562/

25/09/2026

Screening Field Engineers - Questions That Actually Work (Part 2)

How to Hire the Best Field Engineers - Interview Tips for managers, was the first part of a series of roundtable discussions with advice for field service managers on how to hire and interview successfully. Featuring veteran field service leaders Guy Eid, Arnaud Billard, Bruce Breeden, and Kevin Mace.

This is the second part of the roundtable discussing Questions That Actually Work, with the same veteran field service leaders Guy Eid, Arnaud Billard, Bruce Breeden, and Kevin Mace.

They discuss the questions that should be asked from both the hiring manager's point of view and the candidate's point of view.

'The kind of questions you are being asked will tell you what is important to the company.'

'Is there any ambiguous area where you would like me to tell you more?'

As an interviewer how would you answer the question
'Why should I work here?'

Whether you are an interviewer or a candidate

'did they make you feel they have what you are looking for?'

To watch follow the link:
https://youtu.be/mDXO4XFumTs?si=LDc9wx0XDTIZLalm

24/09/2026

Biomedical Engineering

What is it like to be a Biomedical Engineer working in Ghana? In 2024, Ethel Enam Abla Nyamador shared the answer to this based on her experience studying Biomedical Engineering and gaining work experience. Ethel has now graduated and shares her career so far, in an updated blog post on The Field Engineer community website, as well as her hopes for the future.

Biomedical Engineering

Why would you recommend Biomedical Engineering as a career to others?
I would recommend Biomedical Engineering as a career because it gives you the opportunity to work at the intersection of different fields. During my studies, I was exposed not only to engineering and technology but also to economics, law, entrepreneurship, and other areas. That breadth means that there are different directions you can take as your interests develop.

In my country, Ghana, Biomedical Engineering is more commonly associated with clinical engineering, where professionals work with, maintain, and calibrate biomedical devices or equipment. Although that is not the area I personally want to pursue, I have seen how valuable and promising it can be.
What attracted me most to the field is the opportunity to understand complex problems and find ways to solve them. The human body itself is incredibly complex: whether you look at the nervous system, the brain, the heart, or how all these systems work together. Biomedical Engineering allows you to look at that complexity from an engineering perspective and ask,
“How can we understand this better, improve it, or solve a problem within it?”
This is what makes the field both challenging and fulfilling. There is always a problem that needs a solution.

You can read the full article here.
https://thefieldengineer.com/blog/a-day-in-the-life-of/being-a-woman-biomedical-engineer-in-the-new-generation/

You can join The field Engineer community here,
https://thefieldengineer.com/register/

And our Facebook community here,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2261924563957562/

Meet a new generation Biomedical Engineer Ethel Enam Abla Nyamador studying at University of Ghana and hoping to specialise in Bioinformatics.

22/09/2026

Stop Guessing What Your Customers Value - Lisa Hellqvist Copperberg

Lisa Hellqvist is the Managing Director of Copperberg who create business platforms bringing together the manufacturing community in order to grow and build relationships globally. Lisa discusses the future of field service engineering with Caroline Gregory of The Field Engineer.

Women in Field Service Engineering

We're constantly hearing from field service leaders that they would like more women in their team. I know that you think that making the world work workplace more attractive could be part of the solution as it would attract more people overall to field service engineering. So, how can companies do this? What's what's your advice Lisa?
That is of course the million-dollar question and if I have the true answer I will bottle it and sell it very expensively. But on the other hand it is to me and you're saying something there that I really believe is true is that we say and I actually like that you asked if we want more women sometimes they even bump into the expression need which I think is who needs more women and why that's even another part of the discussion. But when we say want it's a terminology thing as well where I think okay but what can we do to make them want to choose us right or you know we have to ask ourselves that question but the question essentially is a broader question because if we don't have women applying for the job but we also see we have too few candidates overall applying for the job as a field service technician or an engineer. It either starts with the educational system not actually you know having enough people graduating with the right type of titles or we are not attractive enough as employers and then we have to ask ourselves okay what are we communicating when we're going into these recruitment processes. And then we have to maybe question the role itself. I know this is a little bit out of the box, but I hear it more and more in our rooms as well is that just because a field service technician or a field service engineer has done or has been a position that's done everything in one way forever it doesn't mean that it can't be changed. So are there aspects of the role that could be segmented into specific sort of niches or expertise areas? For example, let's say that the technical engineering part is really a niche of something. Maybe that should be freed up from other aspects like you know the the admin part or maybe some remote parts or something so we can actually have more of maybe a customer service focus. Maybe that would be attractive to another pool of talent etc etc. So this is something I know that some OEMs are actually experimenting with to see like okay are there different soft skills or core values that are driving different types of applicants to different roles and maybe the role can then it doesn't have to be a to z you know an agile function and not necessarily so siloed and that's quite an interesting you know take on it because then you could probably have more let's say applicants from the customer service field coming in for example which is a broader range and maybe you don't need the same technical engineering background when you apply for that type of role. You just need to be very good communicator and so on. Yes, and maybe that is a trade that is also by or it is a trade by statistics that are more populated by females so you know you will probably sort some of these things. But what happens if we make the entry level technician roles having credentials that they can actually move into other engineering roles. Because we often try to ring fence them and say, "Okay, what you learn with us, you can't really transfer to somewhere else." And then they might feel that they're, you know, losing, you know, the competence that they're gaining with you as an employer is not transferable somewhere else. If they don't want to stay, they've lost a few years of their time in their career trajectory and I think maybe if we make that more certification based or transferable then you might actually get more applicants into the role because they get a transferable knowledge base and then they have something very tangible if they do want to move. And then they might feel that they're, you know, losing, you know, the competence that they're gaining with you as an employer is not transferable somewhere else.

To watch the interview follow the link:
https://youtu.be/6NbolUA3oQY?si=KlnXA7q1WWxmuKn1

You can join The field Engineer community here,
https://thefieldengineer.com/register/

And our Facebook community here,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2261924563957562/

18/09/2026

How to Hire the Best Field Engineers - Interview Tips for Managers (Part 1)We are excited to share the first part of a series of roundtable discussions on The Field Engineer Podcast channel about hiring field service engineers.

The first episode is titled,
How to Hire the Best Field Engineers - Interview Tips for Managers (Part 1),

Our panel of experts features four veteran field service leaders Arnaud BILLARD based in France, Bruce Breeden in the USA, Kevin Mace in Switzerland, and is chaired by Guy Eid in Canada. Between them they have well over 100 years of field service engineering experience.

The second part of the discussion will be published next Friday.

You can watch the discussion on The Field Engineer Podcast on YouTube here
https://youtu.be/wvfkBzOeeWA?si=wG7Pf8Jt3baSrFFg

The discussion is also available on Spotify, and Apple Podcasts just search – The Field Engineer.

You can join The field Engineer community here,
https://thefieldengineer.com/register/

And our Facebook community here,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2261924563957562/