TD 1
Don’t let size, or height, or gender, or skillset
stand in your way. SAMANTHA KAO The Heavy Vehicle Mechanic Apprentice “Growing up, I had male mentors whose actions and attitudes led me to connecting with my trade. My dad is a technical engineer – he used to fix dental machinery – so from a very young age I would’ve understood the workings of a factory. A friend of mine races road-bikes with [Irish road-racing dynasty] the Dunlops. My first memory is being in Mondello Park, aged four or five, watching them race. To me, this was a totally normal lifestyle: Saturday mornings were spent in the shed, working with dad on bikes, or lawnmowers… a couple of years ago we built up a vintage car. It’s always been there in the background. “When I was in Transition Year, a group from FÁS (now Solas) came out to talk to us. It was a half-hour of speeding through everything they offered for training, which wasn’t nearly enough time! I suddenly felt this might be the direction I want to go in. I went up to the rep afterwards and said, ‘this might sound really strange, but can women do motor apprenticeships?’, and he jumped on that! He was thrilled that here was a girl who wanted to train, and gave me all the information I needed. I thought I’d be able to start with FÁS straight away, but first, he told me, I’d need to get a relevant job. My mum was adamant I still had to finish school, and have the Leaving Cert to fall back on. My dad pointed out that if this trade was something I really wanted to do, it would still be there in two years’ time. I was glad my parents had made me stay on, because if I had been halfway through an apprenticeship when the recession hit, I wouldn’t have had a back-up beyond my Junior Cert. “My little boy was around three when I went back to my local FÁS. I went up to reception and told the lady there I was searching for an apprenticeship. I had my child with me, and she stared back with a look that said, ‘you can’t be serious’. I persisted and said I just wanted more information on their motor vehicle apprenticeships, but her responses were an attempt to deflate me: ‘You know it’s going to be down the country? Would you not do childcare or something?’ It was terrible – all I wanted was an apprenticeship! I later had a look around at garages, but none of them wanted to take me on. Most places didn’t get back to me at all, but the handful that did gave responses like, ‘you’re not what we’re looking for’; generic answers that didn’t own up to the fact they just didn’t want me. “It took 15 years and a fantastic light motor vehicle technology course in Drogheda to get to where I am now: Bus Éireann’s first and only female mechanic apprentice. Their application process was very different to any other company I’d encountered, based around a candidate’s skills and capabilities rather than gender-biased first impressions. “I find sourcing workwear very, very hard. First off, the clothing measurements are for men, and there’s not many that have as short a leg as I do. While I prefer trousers, my line of work mostly requires me to wear overalls – an illfitting pair can make you feel like you’re wearing somebody else’s clothes. We’re meant to wear kneepads, and I do have them on, but mine turn into shin-pads because of the big overalls. I look like an 18th century lady hitching up her dress, except it’s dirty workwear! The lads are looking at me and going, ‘what on earth are you doing?’. “Something I really want to instil in my son – but the same goes for future women tradies out there – is that it doesn’t matter what you want to do: in your life, in your career, if you have drive and a fire lit in your belly, you’re capable of doing anything. Don’t let size, or height, or gender, or skillset stand in your way. If it wasn’t for Jen and for WITNI, I’d feel lost, and by that I mean alone; like you’re the only mad female in this field. I wouldn’t have met such a phenomenal group of women, who are blazing trails in their own trades. Hopefully, this is just the stepping stone… the start of what’s to come.” 25