Carpenter & Joiner - Linda Johnston

Linda Johnston,
Age 22

Qualifications
SVQ Level 2 in Carpentry and Joinery

What encouraged you to join the construction industry?
My dad is a builder and has always worked in the industry and I guess I wanted to follow in his footsteps. I liked working with my hands and being practical and knew that Carpentry required the skills I enjoyed.

What do you do day-to-day?
Every day is different and can vary from working indoors to outdoors. One day I could be fitting skirting inside a house the next I can be fitting doors and windows in a shop or office.

Good bits and bad bits about your job?
The good bits that I enjoy are working outside and using my hands. I like that it's a practical job and I get to work on lots of different projects. No two days are ever the same. The only real bad bit about my job is when I have to work outside in the bad weather.

If you were to recommend your job to someone else, what would you say?
If you enjoy working outside, using your hands with a constant variety of projects to work on then this would be the career for you.

Where would you like to take your career in the future?
Currently I am happy gaining more experience and working at the level I am. In the future I think I'd like to move into more of an office based role perhaps within a Quantity Surveying area. I would need to undertake more training but may start to look into that in the future.