| After working for over 10 years in my civil | | | | progressed from site engineer to section engineer. |
| engineer job as a freelance site engineer and | | | | This involved me organizing my team of site |
| manager, I quit civil engineering to start generating | | | | engineers and being responsible for planning of the |
| income from the internet. This allowed me to | | | | works and procurement of materials. I continued |
| reassess my goals, my ambitions, my interests | | | | to progress and was then placed as a sub-agent, |
| and develop are far better work life balance. | | | | still working for a contractor. |
| My background, in brief, was not a common route | | | | I went on to finally achieve an industry |
| through the industry. The majority start out going | | | | qualification by completing my Level 4 NVQ in |
| through university or college and then applying for | | | | Construction Site Management and received my |
| graduate jobs with a contractor or design | | | | CSCS platinum manager's card. My entire career |
| consultancy. This was not my path, although I | | | | had been working in a freelance capacity. Working |
| was still able to finish my career after becoming a | | | | for a company had never appealed to me and I |
| manager. | | | | suppose that I had always been entrepreneurial at |
| I started out after leaving school with decent | | | | heart. |
| A-Levels and then completed 1 year of BSc | | | | Despite my progress within the civil engineering |
| Archaeology degree. I soon realised that I had | | | | industry, I knew that it was not what I wanted |
| had enough of academia and wanted to get into | | | | to do for ever more. I enjoyed the income from |
| work as quickly as possible. So I ended up | | | | working freelance but could not continue working |
| working for a temporary workers agency as a | | | | the hours required, the commuting and the living |
| lowly labourer and then as an engineer's chainman. | | | | away from home. |
| That was when I realized my capability to carry | | | | For many, it is a pipe dream. I decided, however, |
| out the tasks of a site engineer. I was fortunate | | | | that I was going to find a way to end my civil |
| enough to be working with some eager | | | | engineer work, generate income from the internet |
| postgraduate engineers who were happy to teach | | | | and give me the ability to work from home, for |
| me how to use automatic levels and total stations | | | | less hours and more money, so that I could truly |
| while out on site and earning. So with no industry | | | | enjoy as much of life as possible. |
| qualifications, I started my next placement as a | | | | It took me some time to figure it all out but |
| freelance site engineer. | | | | eventually, I discovered a turnkey internet |
| There was no deception involved. The client with | | | | business that was exactly what I was looking for. |
| whom I was placed on each contract was made | | | | So for a few months I continued with my civil |
| fully aware of my capabilities and shortfalls, due to | | | | engineer job during the days and worked |
| no formal industry training. However, I was able | | | | tenaciously on the evenings and weekends to build |
| to competently carry out my duties and learn | | | | my alternative income source. It was not long |
| new skills along the way. | | | | before I put on my steelies for the last time and |
| So fast forward a few years and I had | | | | quit civil engineering. |