Alegaria Santos, a student of Cenfic’s Measuring and Quantity Technician course dreams of dedicating herself to the sector in a professional manner.

QUESTION.- What course do you attend?
ANSWER.- I´m currently attending the Measurements and Quantity Technician Course.

Q.- What are your expectations?
A.- I initially choose the Construction technician course and it was not possible and then I was invited to this course. I accepted, found interesting, is related to the area. I like Civil Construction and I´m enjoying a lot.

Q.- Are you motivated to find a specialty and be integrated into a company to follow projects?

A.- I look forward to finding work where I can evaluate projects from the office and go straight to the field and see the project that I was evaluating.

Q.- Do you have family members in this area or was it your choice?

A.- I have no family in the area, it was very different from that. I worked in the catering business and nearby there was a small company when there were construction workers and they talked a lot about the work. Piqued my curiosity. They were not always closed, they could compare works with each other, they encouraged me to look for something like this. I prefer to finish high school and have a specialty to be able to work.

Q.- In your pursuit of studies and get a specialty what makes a woman to pursue a progression in this area?

A.- The world of men is very complicated. It´s a world that brings many challenges and for a woman who likes challenges is perfect. I would like to do civil engineering, I will start with modules and later finish.

Q.- Would you advise a friend to attend?

A.- If she liked civil engineering, movement, confusion and growth curiosity, yes I advise. If she like to be in office, I would say the measurement component.

Q.- Are you aiming to work in this area in a company?

A.- I aim to learn as much as possible and have a job to learn the measurement and budgeting component. A company that helps us grow and over time do various training. I attend the course for this purpose.

Q.- What obstacles do you expect to find in the company? How to overcome them?

A.- The biggest obstacle is being a woman. The biggest obstacle will be for men to accept. That I work among them. We have to know how to respect people, they will learn to respect our work. I can’t be fragile, I can’t let them break me down, I can show that I have strength that I have a claw and I see things with more idealism then men.

Q.- Show competence?

A.- Yes, and for the respect.

Q.- Do you agree with the phrase “Is construction a male work?”

A.- Construction has always been and will be a male world because there are more professions for men. I take someone to run. In Portugal is a very masculine world. I have lived outside Portugal and have seen many women being mason servants.

Q.- What are the benefits of integrating women in to the Construction industry?

A.- The biggest benefit is the ideas that woman can present, new ways, new roles, women can pull more work and show other perspectives. Women has more claw then men, women always try to find solutions.