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Case studies

Finding a Work placement – Painting and Decorating

Added: 19 December 2007. Last updated: 1 May 2008.

Tanya Edwards – Painter and Decorator

How did you get into your trade?

I was doing up my Mum’s place, and she said, “you do this really well“, and it’s funny cos my Mum doesn’t give me that many compliments! She picked up a leaflet about women in construction, and she just gave it to me. And I went there and they said “what dyou want to do?“, and I said painting and decorating, and I’ve just taken it from there really. When you do Painting and Decorating it’s a lot about job satisfaction, people will say “that’s really great” – it’s nice.

How did you hear about the Work Placement Project Building Work for Women (BWW), run by WAMT?

Somebody who was already on it recommended it – she gave me the number for WAMT.

How did you find the pre-placement training?

It was really good. Things like the self-confidence training – at first I thought, you know, “Self confidence? What’s that about?” I don’t really need that, then you realise it’s all about learning more about yourself, and how to be more assertive. And that’s what you need when you’re in an industry like this, where you’re around men all the time, and they can sometimes be a bit boisterous. Generally though, the boys I work with are really friendly and accepting. They say they like having women on site. They say it makes it nicer to work. But – you tend to feel a bit intimidated. I felt a bit shy at first.

What’s a typical day on placement for you?

I’m on a placement with Axis Europe. We meet at eight, get ready – put your boots and overalls on – you must have your boots and your overalls. Then we get on with it, basically! We do a lot of exterior windows and doors, inside it’s staircases and stuff. And they do kitchens and bathrooms and things like that.

It’s mostly working on housing association properties. They do private ones too, but I think you have to be there longer to work on those. I’m with the apprentices so I guess I don’t get those beefy jobs at the moment.

Have you learnt any new skills since you’ve been on it?

When you do it in college, it’s all about theory. You get like a little cubicle. We have parts of the college where we’re allowed to do our practical, but it’s very controlled so you don’t get a lot of problems in college like the wood’s wet, for example. On site you learn how you plan a job, what you do first, stuff like that. You learn a lot more about how it actually works in the real environment. And they keep you up to date with Health and Safety.

What’s your plan, long term?

I like working with companies, I like the environment. I’d like to do that for at least a year or two years. And then, from there, I’d like to be a sub-contractor. Or even, if I really still liked being in one company, work as a supervisor, or get into managing projects or things like that.