Pollyanna:

Hi Kay,

What an exciting and varied career you have had to date! I wanted to ask... how would you say your role as lead co-ordinator with Unicef in Sri Lanka has helped to progress you to where you are today? Were there any particular experiences that you gained while in Sri Lanka that you now use in your day to day life? Do you think dealing with the Sri Lankan community on a one to one basis played any part in you deciding to be a mentor with MentorSET?

Pollyanna

Erica Williams:

Hi Kaye,

I would like to welcome you to the Blog, thank you for sharing your exciting journey.

I find your career as a Chartered Engineer very inspiring, could I ask you,
what made you want to pursue a career in engineering? Did you know from an early age this was what you wanted to do?

Danielle

Erica Williams:

Thanks Danielle. Actually Yes. I wanted to do maths for A/L and wanted to do Civil Engineering at Uni. I think the inspiration probably came from the people around me at a very early age. My family has many engineers......I am probably the second Civil Engineer though in my greater family. ;-)
Kay

Erica Williams:

Hello Pollyanna, thanks for your note. Oh yes, it sure has helped in so many ways. Firstly it was something I could talk passionately about at the Professional interview -the role I played, influence and role UN has in disaster recovery process etc. Secondly it gave me a great opportunity to develop a whole lot of soft skills that are essential for example Leadership, effective communication and programme management. Thirdly, it was a wonderful way to see the fruits of our technical work- a great motivation! I would recommend to anyone to grab any opportunity to work overseas, even voluntary.
Kay
PS: I was already part of MentorSET when I worked with UNICEF, this is probably why I never thought twice, I was determined I wanted to do it.
Kay

Erica Williams:

Hi Kay

I read your blog with interest. It is good to hear that your company gave you the sabbatical to do your work with UNICEF in Sri Lanka - how did this work?

Helen

Erica Williams:

Hi Kay,

Thank you for being on the UKRC blog! Your story is very inspiring. Working on the Olympics must have been fascinating - how many women were there in your project? The UKRC is involved with others in working to build the involvement of SET qualified women in the 2012 games - I'll get one of my colleagues to give us an update!
Ruth Wilson (moderator)

Erica Williams:

Hi Helen, I was quite keen I wanted to accept the offer with UNICEF with local wages. Atkins supported me by offering the time off and also helped me a bit financially which enabled me to keep my room and my belongings. I was certainly lucky and grateful to the directors and managers who supported me on this.
Kay

Erica Williams:

Hi Ruth, thanks for your comments. At the time I joined I was the only one as a Project Manager. But by the time I left, there were a few others. There is much work being done with all the supply chain but I would agree that we are not equally represented yet!
Kay

Erica Williams:

Hello Kay,

What an exciting journey you have been through. The part that touched me the most was you being able to help your country in crisis, it takes alot of courage and shows your devotion towards your country - You should be really proud of yourself as you certainly have done a good deed. I would love to be able to help my own country in hard times and be there to help but not many of us get this opportunity.

Do you think having a mentor can really help steer the direction of your career and what can you expect to learn from the mentor's experiences and how do you relate them to yourself after? Having gone through the mentoring process yourself - do you think you can now better help your mentees and meet their expectations?

Thank you
Mehrin

Erica Williams:

Hello Mehrin, Thanks for your lovely message. Yes the mentoring helped me. I am not sure where I would be without it today to be honest. An example of how or when it helped me. When I met my mentor many years ago, I was not sure what I wanted from it or how it would work. One of the first questions my mentor asked me was what I wanted to do/achieve – both in my career and personal life. Realizing the fact that you are one person who has ambition in personal and professional life has much importance. This way you are not over looking one or the other and able to balance between both [am still working on some of these you know, the good thing is i know what they are ;-)]. But the thing that helped me most was I mapped my ambition as we spoke on back of a note pad. When I came back from Sri Lanka confused as to what I wanted to do next or more importantly what I was looking for.....I dug out this paper and all this became clear......
Mentoring gives as much as what you are after.......I found it helped me to tap into others experience sometimes just to even validate your views and to get clarity on the pathway you want to choose. Sometimes they also help you to think about things that you may not have thought of or probe you with questions. I would say give it a try at the end of the day it’s about that relationship you have with the individual. Good Luck with it all.
Kay

Erica Williams:

Hi Kay,

Thank you for taking part on the blog. You certainly have had an inspiring and exciting career to date. I was particularly interested to hear how your first MentorSET mentor suggested that you to write down your ambitions and then encouraged you to aim for them.

I was just wondering whether you had enjoyed being a mentor and whether you feel that you have gained yourself, in any way, from the experience?

Jan West (MentorSET)

Erica Williams:

Hi Jan, In my very first meeting with my mentor I described to my mentor what I wanted to achieve in the next 5years and 10years. My mentor helped me to evaluate what was important for me and to give myself realistic timescale. That was how the time line diagram developed. I sure do enjoy being a mentor. It’s a constant learning process and you sure do learn from mentees too. It’s great personal reward to hear back from mentees when things are working or changing as a direct result of our discussions. Above all to see them achieving their goals and becoming a better rounded person.
Kay

Erica Williams:

Dear Kay,

What an interesting career!
Did it feel special working on the Olympic project? Where you aware that it was a high profile project on a day to day basis?
Where there lots of important people visiting continously?
Did you meet anyone of note?

Fran

Erica Williams:

Hi Fran, many thanks for your message. It sure felt we were working on a major project of national importance. In every meeting and communication session it was reiterated on how prestigious the project was and how the public was very much looking in. Also to change the way people worked to remove some traditional hurdles and outlooks. There were a lot of milestone and gateways to ensure best value were driven throughout the project and at all levels.

Periodically there were visits arranged to the Olympic Park. Unfortunately I did not get to meet anyone in person but got a glimpse of a few from our office window ;-)
Kay