interview
with students on the course itself is fantastic and the stories and discussions about lessons learned over the years was simply amazing to listen to and very educational in itself.
What was your cohort like? Were there other mature students with experience in industry? I was one of two women on the course and there were 12 men – we all had very different roles but were all in the industry. This really added to the lectures, specifically for the demolition course, as it opened the conversation and examples of experience which were immense. The debates were passionate at times to say the least, but very insightful. I also found the differing approaches taken by the various pupils fascinating. For example, if we were in a general lecture with a mixed class of students who had progressed straight from school to university, they had a real sense of bottom-up thinking and methodology. Whereas I found the mature students on my course had been there, seen it and done it so we were looking top-down.
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What advantages did your experience give you over those coming directly from a bachelor’s degree?
bite-sized chunks. This enabled me to have the focus and drive to pick up where I left off.
It was the first ever delivery of the course, so we were all in the same boat. While a couple of students may have found the principles of academia easier, I had the experience and knowledge of the sector and terminology that they would not have had. I think all the people on the inaugural course found it educational in some way or another.
How would a relevant degree on a job applicant’s CV influence you?
What were the most challenging aspects, both of studying in general, and the course in particular?
Why should others who already have experience and a developed career consider adding an academic string to their bow?
Learning the university intranet, where our messages and instructions were posted, was challenging. I found it a nightmare as it was not something that I was familiar with and it was not a system I had needed to know in my business life. Time was a massive challenge too, as running a company with 185 staff is a lot of work and finding the time to study and research, while completing the assignments on top of everything was difficult. I eventually mastered doing the research and work in
It depends on the job, but I have always recruited based on knowledge and experience rather than a qualification. I have a newfound appreciation of the work that goes into achieving a degree though, so it will be something that I will take into account in future.
I think demolition is a sector that badly needed academic recognition. It is a very specialist industry that goes unrecognised and is undervalued in terms of people’s expertise and knowledge, not to mention the technology that is now available and being used in projects. I also see demolition being added to the BIM programme (Building Information Modelling) sooner rather than later, with everyone talking about making sustainable buildings that can be reused or recycled in line with the circular economy. Why it was not added years many ago is beyond me. Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge that this master’s degree brought and the diversification from my everyday job. I love a challenge; I’m not sure I will take quite such a big one on again, but I am not sorry that I did. I recommend the course to anyone in the industry and welcome the professionalism it will bring in time. demolitionhub.com