Emily, a college student studying her Level 2 Foundation in Building Services Engineering, joined the Women Construct Wales project with aspirations to secure an apprenticeship, and eventually become a plumber.
Due to her caring responsibilities, Emily felt she had missed out on some of the real-world training her classmates had experienced prior to joining the course.
Emily made excellent progress during her time on the project, gaining incredible experience while practising a range of practical skills, which in turn improved her self-esteem and professionalism.
Having achieved 3 qualifications on the project, Emily felt ready to apply for an apprenticeship in the industry after she graduated from college.
Emily now works for Castell Construction and is set to have a successful career ahead of her.
We caught up with Emily a short while after the project in Neath Port Talbot ended to find out more about her experience:
Q:Do you feel WCW has helped to overcome any challenges you were facing, whether they were personal and professional?
Yes! Personally, I have gained a lot of confidence which has helped my personal life and also my professional. Having experience in all aspects of construction has helped me when applying for, and being interviewed for, potential job opportunities. The work I have done on the site with WCW and the work experience I have gained through Cii’s contacts has been invaluable towards finding an apprenticeship.
Q: What part of WCW have you enjoyed the most?
For the most part, the social side. Getting to know the other participants and making friends. I also really enjoyed learning how to use power tools that I’d heard about in college but never got to use.
Q:Was there anything about the project that surprised you?
Honestly, how laid back everything was. If I made a mistake it was just laughed off and I was told how to fix it.
Q:Do you think WCW could benefit other women, and if so, how?
I believe WCW would benefit other women greatly, whether they want to do their own DIY projects or get into construction like myself.
Without going into the history of how majority of women are raised not being taught these skills just due to restrictive gender-norms, I wish things were different. I wish I was taught how to jump-start my car or to put up a shelf, instead just having it done for me. I often felt looked down on when I didn’t know how to do these things.
I wished that when I was in school and college the construction courses hadn’t been mostly boys so I wouldn’t have felt so alienated from doing something I actually enjoyed.
All that to say, if you want to learn practical life skills for your home or want to get into something more I’d definitely recommend this project as it has helped me learn a lot of invaluable skills that I will use for life.
