My Journey to Chartership with the Professional Development Programme
As long as I can remember, construction seems to have been a part of my life. My Dad was a Property Developer so I grew up around construction – often coming home from school and having tea with the builders. My childhood nickname is Bob, as when I was little, I wouldn’t take off my Bob the Builder costume, so I guess I have always had a passion for building.
During Secondary School and Sixth Form I enjoyed Maths and Physics, but also loved Art as I found a balance between science and creativity was important. I recognised that this was a combination I wanted to achieve in my career – but I wasn’t sure what career path would allow me to find it.
A teacher at my school suggested a course at Loughborough University – Architectural Engineering and Design Management. This was a completely eye-opening moment for me. Whilst I was aware of construction as an industry, I had never considered a career in the field for myself. I researched the degree, and it was a perfect fit.
I began my studies at Loughborough University and immediately loved it. One of the lecturers, Bruce Wright, is a huge ambassador of the CIOB and it was from him that I first learnt about the Chartership process. He always emphasised the benefits of Chartership and the importance of development within our early careers.
As part of my degree, I was encouraged to undertake a placement year. Three friends and I made the decision to move to London together where I worked for Walterlilly, who specialise in high quality residential, on a Grade 2 private residence. During this placement year, Loughborough University encouraged us to undertake three ‘mock’ CIOB modules and to help us understand the writing style and evidence required for each element.
After 14 months with Walterlilly in London, I returned to Loughborough for my final year. I knew I had a passion for housing, but I wanted to explore this aspect of construction from a unique and impactful angle. For my dissertation I carried out an international research project that set out to understand how the safety of women is affected by the redevelopment of informal settlements in Cape Town. When researching Graduate jobs, I wanted to ensure that the Contractor I worked for had a residential focus but also had a strong drive for diversity and inclusion. This is where Wates really stood out. As a young woman entering a male dominated industry, I wanted to ensure I would be supported.
I began working for Wates in January 2021 on the Graduate Design Management Trainee scheme. After expressing my interest in undertaking my Chartership, Wates confirmed that this was something they would encourage and set up meetings to begin the process.
The application was straightforward and the staff at CIOB were easy to contact, providing advice to me throughout the early application. I was assigned an assessor who would be available if I had any questions. In my first meeting with my assessor, Tony Ward, I expressed that I had a personal goal of completing my PDP within 3 months. Tony was enthusiastic and supportive in creating a strategy to help me achieve this. I read the outline description of each module and utilised the provided ‘Personal Learning Plan’ document, to ensure I knew what I could evidence and which elements of the modules I may need to build on my experience.
As a member of the Technical Team at Wates, we are required to communicate with different people in many different ways and so for me, it made sense to undertake the ‘Communications’ module first. I reviewed the module and established what examples I could give for each element. I wrote my report, and then sourced the evidence, saving this in my own filing system. I would then systematically upload the evidence to the portal.
The PDP allows you to submit evidence in multiple formats, from emails, to internal process documents, to witness testimonies. Uploading evidence is straightforward, and the CIOB Learning Assist Portal helped me to organise my evidence and formulate my application. The ‘percentage complete’ function really motivated me during the PDP as I could easily track my progress and set goals.
The PDP process gave me the chance to reflect on my work in the industry over the past two and a half years. Within my degree I covered lots of different aspects of construction, but largely from a theoretical perspective. The PDP enabled me to demonstrate that I am using my University knowledge and building upon this ‘on the job’. By collating my evidence, I was able to review the various projects and teams I have had the chance to work with. At Wates we undertake placements with different departments and within my PDP reports I could utilise my learning and experience for these placements.
I feel really proud to have become a Chartered Construction Manager. Becoming MCIOB has been a personal goal of mine since the beginning of my University studies, and I am so pleased to now be a part of the CIOB, a prestigious and recognisable institution. My Chartership highlights the fact that I have gained a level of experience – actively utilising and building upon my learning from university – a hugely useful tool for someone early in their career, and the PDP helped to provide a ‘guide’ to my development, highlighting areas that I needed to gain further experience in. I am keen to continue to utilise the many CIOB resources and I am looking forward to progressing within the industry as a Chartered Construction Manager.