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As a recent high school graduate, Claudia Lagudi completed our Spark Workplace Experience Program to get a feel for what a career in construction would be like.
With the pressures of Year 12 over, Claudia is enjoying taking a break from the books as she dips her toes in part-time work.
Although she’s never set foot on a construction site, her long-held passion for construction has led her to find out more.
Teaming up with recent graduate, Site Engineer Grant McInerney, Claudia got the chance to visit her first live construction site, meeting our site-based employees and being introduced to the processes and practices of construction work. Claudia says, “I will never be the same driving past a road construction site after having had this experience. I got such an understanding of the real benefits engineering and construction workers provide society at large – like roads and bridges. It’s the things we use every day but take them all for granted.”
Claudia says she felt privileged being a ‘fly on the wall’ and attending different meetings to observe and listen to how staff work together to make construction come together.
“I’ve enjoyed this whole week immensely, especially the way the week has been delivered. Rather than feeling bombarded with too much information, I’ve been able to digest this amazing experience as I go because I’ve been part of the culture and daily work processes of a real construction company.” She says.
Claudia makes mention of the family-oriented culture at Symal. “I love the culture here. It’s open and friendly, everyone including the Managing Director walks around the office talking to everyone else. It’s also a similar culture on site – everyone is working but they are really enjoying working together and doing their work.”
Once students complete the Spark Workplace Experience Program, our Training and Compliance Coordinator Cara completes a career map to help navigate their career decisions.
Completing a self-evaluation helps students think about their values, what motivates them and what they enjoyed the most from the week.
This information is then used to evaluate career pathways within the civil construction industry and gives students a chance to weigh up the pros and cons of areas they were exposed to during their work experience.
As the student’s vision of a possible career in the construction industry becomes clearer it’s time to set goals to make it a reality. As Cara says, “Students can take their career map away with them and keep working on it. It’s so important to revisit the plan and assess where they’re at and record their own progress.”
For any student wondering if the construction industry is for them, Claudia’s advice is simple, “Just do it! Experience and knowledge are the most valuable and tangible things to go by and this week has been one of the best experiences I have ever undertaken. I know if I hadn’t experienced this week, I’d always be wondering.”
Request a chat with one of our friendly HR team to find out more about our tailored Spark Workplace Experience program here.
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