Supporting Women in Construction [Interview]

For this year’s Women in Construction Week, we’re celebrating the great work of women in our industry.

Women in Construction Week highlights the history of women in construction, their challenges, and the ways they’ve been able to overcome them. This week is intended to appreciate the women who have entered the construction industry, and to encourage those willing to make similar commitments.

Intro Recruitment is committed to equity, inclusion, and diversity. We are invested in discovering what it is we can do to create genuine space for everyone in the industry.

We gather industry insights by listening to our candidates and clients to enable us to better empower women.

We recently interviewed one of our female candidates on her experiences in the construction industry.

Our candidate shares some valuable insights into what its like to work in construction as a woman, how she defines and strives for success. 

It went like this:

Q: What made you choose construction as a career?

A: Construction makes me feel excited all the time.  To see things being transformed, infrastructure being created, bridges, buildings… all these things make me happy to come to work.

What led me to construction was the opportunity to make the industry more sustainable, implement good practices and exercise innovation in the sector.

Q: Who inspires you?

A: Well, I should be honest – there wasn’t a woman who inspired me to join this industry instead my dad was the person responsible for that. He was a supplier of construction equipment and plant in my home country.

Q: If you had one piece of advice for women considering construction as a career path, what would it be?

A: Girl, just go above and beyond with passion!

Q: What has been the most surprising part of being a woman working in construction?

A: I am lucky as I’ve joined a good team. As a foreign woman I was prepared to experience difficulty in my team understanding my accent, but it was the opposite, I was welcomed since the first day.

Q: What has been your most memorable moment working in construction?

A: My first ‘toolbox talk’ to over 100 people, on a microphone, sharing knowledge about waste management. I pushed myself to be there, no one asked me to conduct it, but I had to challenge myself. It was memorable especially because people came to me afterwards to say it was a great message.

Q: What is the biggest challenge of being a woman working in construction?

A: I think it is to get the trust of colleagues, I think there is still a point where a woman needs to do more to get the same respect then a man. 

In honour of International Women’s Day, next week the Intro Recruitment team will attend the Master Builders’ Brisbane Influencers Lunch to discuss a range of construction industry business topics.

This business event will feature some predominant female industry panellists including Loren Hickey (Precontracts Manager at John Holland), Alli Smith (Executive General Manager for Home Claims at Suncorp) and Mikki Richardson (Director, People and Regional Connection at Master Builders).

Stay tuned!