View the I Run the Railways booklet - RailCorp

DanIEla TobaR
systems support & Development Manager
When I had to choose my degree in Year
1 , I thought I’d do either architecture as
I was good at drawing, or engineering as I
liked maths. I was always told in high school
that civil engineering wasn’t something that
girls did. So perhaps I ended up choosing
engineering more out of stubbornness than
anything else.
Starting out at RailCorp, green from Uni
was a huge challenge. All of a sudden you
find yourself out on a worksite, and you’re
managing Team Leaders and Work Groups.
With some of the Team Leaders having been
on the job for around thirty years, you find
yourself telling them how to go about their
jobs.
Being a female engineer in RailCorp has been
a blessing in disguise, as a lot of the more
senior Team Leaders have daughters around
my age, so they think I’ve had a lot of guts to
be doing this sort of work, and have offered
me a lot of fatherly advice over the years.
Working in a male dominated environment
has expanded my interests not only in project
management but also in other fields; I’ve even
been part of a footy tipping competition for
the last three years! I haven’t won yet, but I’ll
get there.
FIElD woRK Is VERy, VERy HanDs on. THERE’s noTHInG MoRE saTIsFyInG
THan GETTInG a PRoJECT In THE PlannInG sTaGE, sEEInG IT on PaPER,
CaRRyInG IT ouT anD HanDInG IT baCK To THE CusToMER anD HEaRInG
THEM say, ‘GREaT woRK’.
( I RUN the RAILWAYS)
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