When Claire Cooper left school aged 17 she was sure of
only one thing. She had no idea what job she wanted to do but she wanted to be
really, really good at it.
Claire is a project surveyor at Harsco
Infrastructure UK Ltd having risen through the ranks alongside gaining two
degrees from the University
of Portsmouth – one at
foundation level and the other a Master’s.
A passion for construction and for seeing buildings rise
from the ground has driven her since her first day working at Harsco, which is
a global provider of construction and industrial maintenance services, nine
years ago.
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| Working hard, studying hard: Claire Cooper |
She said: I have always been fascinated by
construction and engineering. Seeing the transitions of a project from a
drawing on an A2 sheet of paper to an actual building site is very rewarding
and I enjoy my part in that process.”
Claire
graduated from the University
of Portsmouth last summer
with an MSc Project Management with distinction. She had studied part-time for
three years while working full-time.
Before
studying for her Master’s she had studied at Itchen
College, in collaboration with University of Portsmouth, for a Foundation Degree in
Business and Management, which also took three years part-time.
She said:
“I have always been very enthusiastic about learning, but when I left
school, I had little idea of what I wanted to do, except that I wanted to do
well for myself.
“As a result, I simply took up every opportunity
and challenge that presented itself. If you do that then you’ll find something
you enjoy doing.”
Claire
self-funded her study for the Foundation Degree because she wanted a
business-qualification and to widen her knowledge of operations, marketing and
finance.
“Harsco
saw my commitment to studying and its benefits to my work so they
offered to pay for me to study for my Master’s.”
Claire
learned about different project management styles and best practice, and how to
use project management tools and techniques. Her employer could see the
benefits almost immediately and she was promoted twice.
She said:
“I love working in construction. I love seeing projects run from start to
finish and projects are so much more than just bricks and mortar. This passion
has definitely developed because of the combination of working and studying in
this field.”
Duncan Williams
Duncan Williams
