Career change pays off for construction apprentice

A former office admin worker who has switched careers to join the construction industry said it was "great to be recognised" as she won an award on completion of her apprenticeship.

Romana Brodzinska, from Leeds, embarked on her construction career three years ago, and has completed a National House Building Council site supervisor apprenticeship.

The 33-year-old said she was "shocked" to receive a "highly commended" award during her graduation ceremony earlier this month.

She said: "I'm a very ambitious person, I knew I wouldn't want to be sitting doing basic admin work in an office, I knew I wanted something more."

She added: "Even if you start from the bottom like me, if you want to and you are willing to work hard you can grow a lot and slowly move up the ladder."

Before starting in construction for the Watkin Jones company, Ms Brodzinska worked in admin for a recycling firm in Cambridgeshire.

She said she moved jobs when she relocated from Cambridge to the north of England during the Covid pandemic.

After living in York for a short period she bought a house in Seacroft and began working as a site secretary.

She said: "I was lucky enough to be recognised by my project manager, he said: 'I can see you're ambitious and would you like us to help you progress with your career?'

"So since then I've been promoted to a trainee and then I joined the apprenticeship and currently I'm an assistant site manager and hopefully soon to become a site manager and then who knows?"

At first she thought a job in construction would "keep her going" and pay the bills but she soon discovered she liked being on site.

"I enjoy seeing how the building progresses and how quickly it goes up," she said.

"I get involved in pretty much everything – quality, health and safety.

"A good thing about being in construction is your day will never be the same, there is always different issues and tasks coming up."

Ms Brodzinska said the award, which she received during her graduation on 7 March, was a total shock.

"During the ceremony when they said they were moving to awards, I thought it would be great to get one, but I'm definitely not getting one. And then all of a sudden my name appeared on the screen.

"It's great to be recognised and I know all my hard work that I put into my apprenticeship didn't go unnoticed."

Ms Brodzinska - one of only two women in her workplace - said she hoped to encourage other women to try careers in house building.

She said: "We definitely need more women in the construction industry because sometimes we look at things from a different perspective, we pay more attention to detail and I think it's easier to manage conflict.

"You deal with different characters all the time and I think, as a woman, it's easier to manage that if it happens.

"I understand it could be difficult. Some women could feel intimidated. But for me it's great."

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