Emily McIntosh

What's your job about?

I currently work within the contracting division where I am based on a medium-scale project at Auckland airport. I spend majority of my day on-site and am responsible for;

• Ensuring all material, equipment and sub-contractors required are booked in for each week
• Ensuring we are on track and completing tasks on time, to schedule and per the design specification
• Ensuring the crew know what they are doing
• Managing sub-contractors on-site – meeting them on-site and explaining what we need
• Completing the daily dairy each day, which gets sent to our client each week
• Ensuring all the quality checks and permits are up to date

I see myself as a planner and overseer on site. My role is very reliant on clear communication and seeking clarification. We plan for events and problem solve obstacles that affect our targets. 

What's your background?

My name is Emily, I am the eldest in my family and am half Tongan and half Scottish.

I attended Aorere College which is where I found my interest in science. Due to this, in my senior years, I decided to take the three sciences, English and Calculus. During high school, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do but I always knew it would be science-related. In my final year, I was tossing between either going into health science the first year with the intent of studying medicine or studying engineering.

I ended up moving down to Dunedin and studying health science first year at the University of Otago. Moving to Dunedin was both scary and exciting. This was my first time living away from home and I had never been to the south island prior to moving there. I was definitely homesick for the first few weeks but as I settled into my new home and routine I ended up learning a lot about myself and growing so much as a person.

The course started off great, the lecturers were helpful and I was enjoying the content. However, it only took a few weeks before I started to lose interest in the content. I started route learning the content just to do well in tests and assignments. After countless nights of deciding whether to just continue with a degree I had lost interest in or jumping the gun and seeing whether engineering would be a better suit I decided to move back up to Auckland to study engineering – & I have never regretted the decision!

Engineering offers a range of various career paths and a vast amount of opportunities. I also enjoy the job security engineering gives you and the ability to work overseas has also been a bonus. The graduate programme I’m in allows me to gain experience working with Fulton Hogan, Watercare and GHD. I’m hoping this programme will provide me with a good foundation in the different aspects of engineering within these sectors and also allow me to explore where my interests lie.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes, someone with a different background could definitely do my job. Some of the best engineers I have met have come from ground staff backgrounds. The key skills you need within engineering are to have clear communication and the right attitude. Everything within engineering is a team effort which means you are always supported. Problem-solving is also a key skill within engineering as there are always problems that pop up and the solution to these issues needs to be safe, and environmentally friendly and also be conscious of money and time.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

The coolest thing about my job is looking at the design plan on paper one week and the next seeing everything come together. There are so many different layers that have to come together for a project to succeed and some projects really do take a village! With this being said it also means that each day carries new challenges which keep you on your toes. Some solutions I have heard have been quite innovative which firstly helps the project and secondly helps me to grow my knowledge and problem-solving skills.

What are the limitations of your job?

The biggest limitation to my job currently is finding a healthy work-life balance. Construction workers are known to work long hours, typically I work around 10.5 hours Monday through to Friday which doesn’t give me a lot of time in the evening to do too much. I also find it hard to switch off and not think about work when I’m not at work. I’m still quite fresh to the construction scene so with time and more experience I will be able to prioritise my time better and find a more suitable work-life balance.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

1. Really enjoy your time at University, it definitely flies by! I was always focused on finishing my degree and joining the workforce. I wish I spent more time joining extra circular activities within my faculty and getting to know more people within my cohort.
2. Failing a paper honestly isn’t the end of the world! I failed my first paper in my second year. I knew I didn’t put enough effort into the course to pass but since I hadn’t failed anything before that I didn’t actually think I could fail a course. I ended up repeating the course the following year and never thinking about that paper again
3. Lastly, I wouldn’t have put so much pressure on myself to get high grades. Trying your best is one thing but adding additional pressure to do well isn’t the best. A few bad grades or a low GPA really isn’t going to hinder your chances at getting into a good job. Most companies look more into someone who is eager to learn and carrying the right attitude over someone carrying a high GPA