Meet Gregor - An insight on establishing his career, his role and words of advice

As a Project Manager, Gregor works at the centre of our site operations, helping to ensure that our projects run smoothly and are delivered successfully. When we caught up with him this week, Gregor shared why he chose to pursue a career in construction and what his role entails. He also offered words of advice for those looking to pursue a similar profession.

My role and responsibilities

I joined the Group in 2013 as a site engineer on our Strathclyde Technology and Innovation Centre project.

My current day-to-day responsibilities include the overall management of all aspects of a project, including health and safety, environmental considerations, quality, planning and operations. I ensure that all roles and responsibilities on site have been delegated and that all procedures are being followed.

As part of my role, I consistently communicate with our clients and filter information throughout our site management and engineering teams. I ensure that my project teams function according to the Carey Way, by doing my part to create an environment where everyone can come to work feeling safe, supported and able to thrive.

How I decided on a career in construction

I first decided to get a job in construction straight out of school, the week I turned 16. I was hired as a chainman through someone my dad knew. After that, I went on to work on other sites, as a labourer and eventually a joiner.

It wasn’t until I was maybe 20, that I decided I would seriously pursue a career in construction. I was motivated by the hardworking, dedicated and smart people who surrounded me on site – down-to-earth individuals who would tell me when I’d made an error and acknowledge a job well-done. I thrived being in an on-site environment, dealing with teams of more than 100 workers and facing extremely difficult engineering challenges.

I’ve learned that, in construction, you don’t have to fit into a mould to be accepted or successful. You can make a fulfilling career for yourself by working hard and taking pride in what you do.

My favourite project to date

Naming my favourite project is difficult, but I will try – in a roundabout way.

The V&A museum, Dundee and Edinburgh Airport are two examples of challenging and interesting projects that I’ve worked on. Also, projects such as Harris Academy and Perth Theatre stand out, because of the increased responsibilities I took on when working on them – something which I find very rewarding.

But, in reality, whether you’re building a bus stop or an airport, it’s actually the project environment and the team you work with that make a project enjoyable. Thankfully, every Careys’ project I’ve worked on has had excellent teams. So it’s the teams I’ve worked with, rather than any one project, that I consider to be my true favourite.

My advice to anyone looking to pursue a similar career

Be yourself, be proud of what you do. Most importantly, always take care of the people who are physically building the projects.

Summarising the culture at Careys in three words

Ambitious - We are an ambitious company, always striving to take on new challenges and be the very best at everything we do.

Competitive - I feel that this competitiveness goes hand-in-hand with ambition. I think we look at the status quo and consistently ask: “How do we match or exceed that?”

Good – It may be a simple word, but I feel it’s accurate. In fact, I think it would be the honest reply that many people would give when asked how it is to work for Careys.

It’s great to work for a company that values what you do and shows it.