Today is International Women’s Day (IWD). It’s a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality. This isn’t the job of any one person, organisation, society or country. It’s about a collective effort to make a positive difference to women everywhere. The theme for IWD 2021 is #ChooseToChallenge. A challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change. So, let's all choose to challenge.
Here at Abri, we’re on a mission to improve equality, diversity and inclusion. Raising awareness of inequality, bias and prejudice is the first step on that journey. So today, on International Women’s Day, we sat down with Jess Martin, Trainee Surveyor, to chat about her career, the challenges she’s faced and what she thinks needs to change.
How have you got to where you are in your career and life today?
I am very grateful for where I am in my career. I joined Abri, or as it was Yarlington, six years ago as a Strategic Finance Administrator having being made redundant from a soliciting firm age 17. I worked at the solicitors part time, with the view of becoming permanent once I finished my A Levels. I had no idea what career I wanted, I didn’t want to go to university and I ended up with no job when I turned 18.
I was fortunate enough to get the position at Yarlington, which I loved, but knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do forever. I worked very closely with Rose and the Asset Management team and saw Rose finish her Degree and become a surveyor. I instantly knew that was where I wanted to be, I basically wanted to be Rose haha.
I couldn’t believe it when a role for a trainee surveyor came up about 8 months after I joined and without any doubt, I applied. I was successful in getting this job and it has been the best decision I made. I am still so thankful for the opportunity.
As part of the role I started a degree in Building surveying which was a five-year course. I am now over four and a half years through and finish in May!! I have learnt so much from my role and I have had some been involved in amazing opportunities. Back when I was 17 I was so against going to Uni, I just didn’t think it was for me and I had no idea what I wanted to study. Studying alongside working has allowed me to work towards being qualified in an area I know I want to work in and something I enjoy. Getting experience in the field is something you cannot learn from a textbook.
Have you faced any challenges along the way?
I would say Building Surveying in general is a challenging subject, mainly because it is so broad. There are many aspects of my uni course that are very complex and I struggle to get on-site experience with working solely in housing. I think this has been the hardest part for me, trying to write assignments and exams on an area I have solely learnt in the lecture theatre or from my own research, rather than seeing it first-hand.
Another challenge I have faced is being a girl. That may sound really stereotypical on International Women’s day but it is something I have found hard. I am on a part time degree with 25 men and then there is me, the only girl. With being part time as well, a lot of my group have worked in the industry for some time and I am the youngest by quite some way.
I’m not an overly confident person so having lectures and group tasks when I started Uni was very daunting, especially when the people around me seemed to know what felt like everything already! I cannot however be more grateful for my small group of friends who include me no matter what, and do not treat me any differently for being a girl. I actually get a sense of pride and achievement when they ask me questions on how to do something, especially seems they have worked in the industry for ten plus years. I also find it quite amusing when the lecture addresses the class as ‘guys and jess’!
What do you think needs to change?
Even though I have just said that I am in a group of 25 males at uni with no females, I do feel recently there has been a drive to get women into Construction which is really positive.
In terms of change I think that there just needs to be a continued focus on encouraging people into the construction industry especially surveying. It’s very easy to think that Surveying properties just involves going out and looking at damp, or cracks in the walls but there is so much more to it. I have done projects at Uni where I have redesigned whole residential properties, loft conversions, complete commercial refurbishments, demolishing properties etc.
The world of surveying is never ending and if people have an interest in it, there is so much out there to cover.
