I am currently working in the construction engineering team at Burwood North Station on the Sydney Metro West – Central Tunnelling Package.
I grew up in Southwest Sydney and although the area I live in isn’t small, I found that my ambitions often greatly exceeded those of my friends. Attending an all-girls high school on the outskirts of Sydney, I really wasn’t exposed to the world of engineering but my interest in Maths, Science and Problem Solving led me to explore this path myself. It wasn’t until I was in Year 12 and attended the UNSW Women In Engineering Camp that I truly decided that engineering was the path for me. After this camp, I was set on working as an engineer in transport planning (working in construction wasn’t even on my radar).
Before starting uni, I was awarded a scholarship sponsored by Transurban where I then went on to work part-time for 4 years while I completed my degree. Although I loved uni, this work experience is where I learnt the most and where I discovered my love for construction. I worked at WestConnex 3A for 2.5 years on the client side and found myself getting jealous of those engineers who were working on site all the time. This is what lead me to apply for a position at Acciona.
I started at Acciona in September 2021, over a year ago now. Growing up I was one of the most “girly-girls” who wore a ballerina dress and never had a hair out of place, so I think my family are still getting used to me wearing high-vis and gumboots every day!
I think anyone can do anything if they have the drive and determination to get there! An engineering degree is imperative to my job – although I don’t use every part of my degree every day, the knowledge you gain from a civil engineering degree is key to understanding each activity on site.
Working in construction is definitely not for the faint-hearted – the hours can be long; you never go home without at least a little bit of mud on you and you’ll never find yourself without something to do. In saying that, no matter your background, if you have the determination, persistence and love for the job, anyone can do it!
There are so many aspects of my job that I absolutely love! I don’t think there are many jobs where you can watch something go from paper to a huge structure every single day.
There is a lot of planning that goes into construction works and although I find this enjoyable the best part of the job is when you are actually out on-site watching everything come together. For example, managing a concrete pour on the ground, stripping a form to find perfectly poured concrete structures or having huge cranes lift in steel structures. Even though this can be absolutely hectic, and you can be out of the office for hours, it really is the most exciting part of the job.
As much as I love my job, sometimes it feels like there really isn’t a lot of time for anything else. My drive to work is an hour each way – this means an early 3:30 am wake up most mornings to get to the gym before work and then not getting home until anywhere between 7-9 pm depending on the day. We also work every third Saturday. These long hours can be exhausting and really limit the amount of time you have to spend with family and friends. This is by far the biggest downside of the job.
Apply for every opportunity – even if you don’t 100% meet the criteria or think it might be out of your comfort zone, do it anyway! Some of my best experiences, especially throughout uni, have come from taking that risk and applying for something I honestly didn’t think I would get selected for.
You don’t always have to have a plan – and this is coming from someone who plans EVERYTHING! I had my whole degree planned out from first year and I had a million curve balls thrown at me. At first, I was annoyed that things didn’t go exactly to plan but looking back I am glad they turned out the way they did.