Alisha – Site Placement

Alisha registered with the Cambridgeshire WiC programme in April 2021 having researched opportunities in the industry and discovered Hill’s partnership with WiC.

Alisha firstly undertook her Level 1 Health and Safety certificate and then completed her CSCS test to gain her CSCS card. Whilst doing so, she also took part in the virtual work experience week that was held with Hill’s Cambridge Investment Partnership team. The virtual experience gave Alisha further knowledge and insight into commercial, technical and production roles – of which she decided to explore technical and production further.

WiC then worked with Ryan Harris, Hill’s Regional Director for their Western Region to secure a work placement at Hill for Alisha where she could shadow both technical and production roles at a site closer to her home in Oxford.

Alisha worked alongside Hill’s Senior Technical Co-ordinator, Narinder Jheeta for the first week, working out of both Hill’s new Abingdon office and their Littlemore site. Alisha learnt about build stages, how to understand and review drawings and took part in meetings. Narinder commented, “Alisha proved herself to be a very enthusiastic, bright and knowledge seeking young woman. It was a pleasure to supervise her for the week that she was with the Technical Team. I can certainly see potential and would look forward to her applying to potential future vacancies with us at Hill”.

For her second week of experience, Alisha worked with the production team under the supervision of Senior Site Manager, Tom Ranns. Alisha learnt about the specific duties of a site manager, taking part in quality assurance checks and learning about the importance of health and safety and how to put together a programme of works. Tom commented, “It was a great privilege to have Alisha with us on site for a week. She brought great enthusiasm with her which hopefully she will take with her into her career in construction. I wish her all the success in the future.”

Talking about her experience, Alisha said, “This experience was truly wonderful, and I enjoyed every second of it.  Going into this placement , I had doubts and worries entering the construction industry being a woman however the Hill Western Team were so welcoming and took their time to show me the ins and outs of the construction industry which I will never forget.  Additionally, I want to encourage any woman reading this who is thinking about working in this industry but is having worries or doubts to take any opportunities they get to learn more about the industry virtually or on a construction site. The industry is amazing and there are so many different roles that could be a fit for you!  I also want to thank Shelley Lawrence and Women into Construction CIC into Construction for organising this placement for me. Their support has been incredible”.

Hill’s Regional Director, Ryan Harris, added, “We were really pleased to be able to offer a two-week work placement to Alisha who was introduced to us via Women in Construction. We are facing a significant skills shortage within our industry, and we hope that by supporting Alisha on her work placement, she can be a beacon of inspiration for other females seeking a new career within our sector. I would like to thank everyone who helped make this happen and hope that this experience empowers Alisha to go on and become a top performer within the house building industry.”

Alisha will be continuing with her Architectural Technology degree and is looking forward to securing an industry placement next year to gain further experience between year 2 and year 3 of her course.

WiC Project Manager, Shelley Lawrence describes Alisha as “An extremely determined and driven WiC participant”, adding “I look forward to continuing to work with Alisha to support her on her journey. Alisha is on a pathway that will no doubt lead to a fulfilling and successful career in construction.”

For details on current Women into Construction programmes, visit our programmes page.