Career Spotlight on Eliza Blight

Career Spotlight

What do you do when, after 8-years in construction, you come to the realisation that the traditional construction career paths aren’t for you? That’s exactly what happened to Eliza Blight. We sat down with Eliza to find out what prompted her recent career pivot, what she’s doing now, and what the future looks like.

Eliza took a traditional path to build her career in construction after university, working as a graduate, then a Project Coordinator for a tier 1 builder before accepting an Assistant Project Manager role at Kapitol Group. However, after completing her first project in her new role at Kapitol, Eliza started having doubts about whether she could see herself as a PM, the next logical step on the rung. “Constructions sites are such dynamic places to work, there’s always a lot going on and I like to be busy,” explains Eliza. “However, I’d been wondering for a while how I could make my current career trajectory work for me long-term. I like being busy but I don’t love managing people. I’m more comfortable being the Indian rather than the Chief.”

What followed was an open, honest conversation with Kapitol’s Construction Manager, Luke Wade. “I thought about resigning but Luke was really supportive in encouraging me not to throw away all my knowledge and experience and he had the need for someone with my skills to help implement paperless systems for our project teams,” said Eliza. As a result, Eliza is now 8-months into a new role at Kapitol as an Operations Coordinator, helping to introduce new systems and standardise procedures the company is using to track project stats more easily. She’s also been fortunate to take on her new role part-time which has freed up time for her to expand her skill set by also working part-time with an Architect.?

“I think my message is, if you have thoughts that your career might be heading the wrong direction, be brave and speak to your manager,” says Eliza. “I didn’t imagine that Kapitol would create this role for me and I certainly wouldn’t have envisaged any employer would so willingly accommodate me like Kapitol has.” “It’s gratifying that Kapitol sees us as individuals and are open-minded and flexible enough to see the opportunities rather than the potential burden of someone who doesn’t want to follow traditional career paths in construction.”