Breaking barriers

In an industry traditionally dominated by men, Sally Anderson is breaking barriers as a Senior Project Engineer. Since joining Monadelphous a couple of years ago, Sally has worked on projects across South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia.

“I’ve been lucky enough to work in some amazing teams and to move around to so many different sites and projects during my time with Monadelphous and I’ve seen a shift towards female engineering numbers,” she said.

Sally’s career journey began while she was completing her degree and working on power plants across Australia.

“Although my degree took an extra year to complete, it was all worthwhile because I got to work in some great projects and even managed a stint working in Wisconsin, America.”

“When I graduated, I wanted to experience a tier one company and get more time on site and commenced my first FIFO role.”

“After five years I began looking for a change and reached out to Monadelphous because of the interesting projects they are involved with and I thought it would be a great progression for myself, so I was thrilled when I was hired. I’ve had some wonderful opportunities since joining.”

“My favourite part of my role is the satisfaction of building something and achieving completion, then moving to the next project.”

“Every job and customer is different and getting to build something from scratch or increase capacity of a brownfields plant and go from nothing to an operational, functional plant is so satisfying!”

“There’s always something new to learn and issues to find solutions for which keeps my days busy and motivation strong to keep going.”

With International Women’s Day recognised in March, we asked Sally if there’s any advice she’d like to share with other women in the industry and girls who want to become engineers.

“I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside some excellent and incredibly intelligent female graduates, undergraduates and young engineers in the last few years and I think there is slowly becoming a momentous shift towards equality in female engineering numbers which I truly believe will make the industry stronger as a result.”

“All I can offer for advice is that networking, asking for help and mentoring is just as important as your studies. I am always available to be reached out to for a chat or advice!”

“I would also say not to wait until you are 100 per cent sure you can do something and it’s best to jump in and learn and ask for help until you achieve it.”

As a trailblazer for women in the mining industry, Sally hopes to inspire and encourage other women to pursue careers in engineering and other male-dominated fields.

“I believe that women bring unique perspectives and problem-solving skills to the industry and that diverse teams lead to better outcomes.”

“I am proud to be a part of the movement towards more women in engineering and the mining industry and I hope that my work can inspire other women to pursue their dreams and careers in this field and to show that anything is possible with hard work and determination,” Sally finished.