22/08/2023
A Day in The Life Campaign CEMMATS GROUP LTD
We are going through A Day in The Life at our fantastic company. Today we are featuring Ing Vanessa James. She is our Environmental Manager.
Q1. What time do you normally arrive at work and what’s the first thing you do?
Answer: I typically get to the office in time for 9am, unless I have early meetings outside the office. My day often starts with making a to-do list of project activities or administrative issues I aim to address during the day, followed by checking my calendar for any meetings scheduled for the day.
Q2. Take us through a typical day – what does it look like for you?
Answer: A typical day involves internal meetings (with CEMMATS management - the MD or other Managers, departmental meeting), meetings with clients, meetings with GoSL MDAs, checking and responding to emails, preparing or reviewing project reports, proposals, etc., planning department field assessments (includes budgets and preparing scopes of work), and occasionally participating in these field assessments.
Q3. What’s your favorite thing about being an engineer?
Answer: My day to day work is mostly centered around environmental issues, however due to the nature of the work (conducting environmental investigations on a wide range of projects, cutting across various sectors such as mining, energy, infrastructure sectors etc.), it does include a considerable amount of engineering inputs. For this reason, what I like most about being an engineer/environmental specialist in my line of work, is my exposure to new and developing trends/issues/solutions in both sectors as a result of the research that goes into working on the various projects I am involved in.
Q4. What’s the most memorable project you’ve ever worked on?
Answer: It would have to be projects dealing with hydropower, mainly because of the natural beauty of the project sites which host stunning waterfalls and local ecology.
Q5. What do you find challenging about being an engineer?
Answer: I can’t say that I find being an engineer challenging, however there are some project which can be challenging due to project timelines or other issues. On the whole, engineering/environmental consultancy is an interesting line of work.
Q6. What do you think is the biggest misconception about a career in engineering?
Answer: That it is difficult. I believe that as long as one has the interest and motivation, it can be a very fulfilling career path.
Q7. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt in your career so far?
Answer: That the client is always right 😊😊
Q8. What time does your workday usually finish and how do you like to relax?
Answer: On average, at 5pm. My favourite way to unwind, is with good food, drinks and a movie
