After 4 years working for BAM Construct UK starting as a Work Placement Student onto an Assistant Site Manager. I had worked on two major projects for BAM including; 2 Chamberlain Square, Paradise Birmingham and Birmingham City University City South Campus Life Sciences Building; both projects I saw throughout their life cycle from inception to post construction and this allowed me to develop a diverse understanding of all levels of construction. I completed this role while completing my Bachelor of Science in Construction Management with Honours and found my working experience invaluable to my degree.
I have been Highly Commended – ‘Young Trainee of the Year 2019’ at the G4C Midlands events for my work. In the Summer of 2020, I decided to leave construction during the COVID-19 pandemic and took on the role as Construction Lead at Halesowen College. This role was something I had wanted to do inspiring young people to get into a career in construction, I had worked as a STEM ambassador during my time at BAM for many schools and non-profit organisations through careers fairs, work experience events and found it saddening that so many people don’t take up a career in construction due to the industry’s image. This was also demonstrated when I had work experience and apprenticeship students shadow me on site at how unknown the roles within construction are!
It is now my role to use my onsite experience to lecture students on the Higher National Certificate in Construction and the Built Environment whilst also developing the department at the college to include further educational courses ranging from Level 1 to Level 5 allowing all students of all ages and academic levels to pursue construction. For me, I found my education invaluable but also that a lot of my lecturer’s at university were behind with up-to-date knowledge of the industry and couldn’t relate to my personal experiences in construction. My goal is inspire and motivate young people to get into construction or those who are wanting to change their career to change the image of construction and demonstrate its ability to be highly rewarding, unlike other careers and importance to the UK’s job market. I am most interested in getting women into construction as often the only woman on site out of 100s of men I want to share my personal insight and inspire women. Moreover; the importance is for students to understand that construction is not just ‘bricklaying and manual labour’ and is viewed as a profession, I have been able to do this through positive marketing of the course, setting up a university partnership for progression routes and working with apprenticeships and local employers to demonstrate the need for labour within construction in the West Midlands. If I can inspire all my students to keep working within construction and equip them with the knowledge for a successful career then I believe I have done my job and hope they take my passion for construction with them to inspire others.
