Skills Work!® for Women – Jessica Steffler, Civil Engineering Technologist

One of the best hidden secrets about skilled trade and technology careers is that they often open doors to a variety of other career experiences.  From business management and ownership, engineering or architecture to law and teaching, many journeypersons, technicians and technologists can find themselves in any number of different fields.

Jessica Steffler is just one of those people.  A graduate of the Civil Engineering Technologist program at Conestoga College, Jessica always exhibited strong skills in math, and was introduced to the civil construction industry through her father.  Civil Engineering Technologists have a wide range of duties, including design and preparation of construction drawings, planning and scheduling projects and conducting field and laboratory tests on soils, asphalt and concrete.

Despite enjoying the work, it didn’t take Jessica very long to recognize that there was a shortage of good, skilled workers, and one major barrier to filling those spaces:  “the misconceptions that educators and parents have about working in careers in construction and skilled trades.” 

After four years in the industry, Jessica started a new organization – the Ontario Civil Construction Careers Institute.  As Director of the organization, her days are spent in extensive travel around Ontario, speaking to high school students about careers in civil construction, engineering and skilled trades.  She also created the website, posters, literature and resources for guidance departments, allowing her to draw on her creativity and people skills.

In this position Jessica gets to travel and meet new people all the time.  Every day is different, and she continually inspires students to try something new, and helps them get into apprenticeships.  She would like to see the OCCCI expand significantly over the next five years.

Jessica has been involved with Skills Canada – Ontario for the last two years, promoting civil construction careers at our Summer Camp and Young Women’s programs.  The similar aims between the two organizations created a natural partnership between the two organizations.

This fall, Jessica has mentored at a number of “Skills Work!® for Women” Networking Dinners this year, the most recent being the Toronto Networking Dinner, held on November 23.