What is your hard hat journey?

As we approach International Women’s Day on the 8th of March, and after reading the incredibly Jo Parker 's recent reflections on gaining her Chartered Engineer status, I have been reflecting on my own journey into Civil Engineering.

When I reflect, I realise my route into Civil Engineering, might be considered to be the fairly traditional route. I did science A-Levels, had relatives who were in the Science and Engineering field and had some aptitude towards Engineering subjects, along with a basic appreciation for what Civil Engineering was. But did that mean I always wanted to be an Engineer? No, is the very simple answer!

Despite knowing about what Civil Engineering was from a very young age – well, my first thoughts when my father had a PhD and was a Dr in Engineering, was that he was a Doctor of stones. When asked what that meant, I made some comments about stones in bridges vaguely remembering something about “keystones” but that was as far as my understanding went, until I got into my teens.

Over the course of my teenage years, I had occasionally assisted my father on some field work – normally half term assistance holding a levelling staff in a culvert – whilst others were off being taken for ice-cream and visiting tourist locations. ?But this appreciation for engineering, firmly put me in the camp of ‘avoiding Civil Engineering as a career at all costs’.

When I was choosing A Levels, I chose Maths, Biology, Chemistry and French. I still didn’t know what I wanted to be, I had even toyed with Chemical Engineering, having already ruled out Doctor, Scientist, Teacher, Veterinary science, due to not liking people, blood, bodily fluids, large and small animals or anything that flaps. ?I finally accepted the idea of studying Civil Engineering, to just get a degree. In the late 90s, Management Consulting was popular, so I had thought I would do a BEng, 3 years at University and then go to London to do something ‘waffly in Consultancy’.

So, after applying to the universities that would accept me for Civil Engineering without Physics! I ended up accepting a place at the University of Nottingham. At the end of my first year, I was still not convinced and decided to try some work experience, I got a job at the University of Exeter doing some research support. It was ok, but didn’t convince me.

By midway through my second year, I thought I ought to get some sponsorship to help with the bills. So, I wrote about 50 letters looking for sponsorship and summer placements. I interviewed for maybe 8 companies and was offered two placements, one that might lead to sponsorship. I also got turned down for one role because when asked “why wasn’t I a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers”, I replied “…because I couldn’t afford it” …!

So, in my second summer I took up a summer placement with Costain Group PLC I spent the summer helping to build a grade separated junction across the A30 near Exeter, my home. It was fun, but long hours. I was offered the opportunity of sponsorship at the end of the 3-month placement, but turned it down, as I was still not convinced Civil Engineering was for me. However, I stayed in touch with Costain and kept a positive relationship.

In the beginning of my 3rd year, I had to finally decide if I wanted to do the MEng or BEng, and as most of my friends were staying on in their courses to do 4 years, I decided to stay… it was that superficial a decision. I then stayed on to complete the 3rd and 4th years, getting a 1st Class Degree, and winning an award for my coursework in Construction Management.

And during the 4th year, I had started to make decisions about work and “what came next”. Driven mainly by a desire to go travelling for 6 months with friends once we completed our degrees, I decided I needed a job “in hand” to come back to, to pay my way and pay off any debts. So, I applied to some graduate programmes, including Costain, and was successful in securing a job, which they kindly let me defer for 6 months to allow me to travel.

And that was the start of the Civil Engineering “Hard Hat” journey– though it was still not straightforward – and I was still not convinced it would be my lifelong calling!

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