Jessica Lancaster has been awarded one of five $1000 recognition awards, making her the ACT’s one and only apprentice plumber to share in the $65,000 worth of grants offered by Rheem.

Rheem’s apprentice plumbers grant program started in 2012, this year, on top of the 20 grants on offer, they also awarded five people with a special $1000 recognition award. Over 1000 apprentice plumbers across Australia applied for the grants.

Jessica is 26, making her a mature-aged (over 21) apprentice. When asked why she decided to switch careers and go into a trade, Jessica talked about hitting a point where she realised she wasn’t in the right industry and was unable to go back to schooling as she had to be working full-time.

“I just sat for a minute and thought about a trade for the first time. And yeah, plumbing came up because it was just the one that interested me most,” says Jessica.

Jessica was one of seven women across Australia recognised in this year’s program. Trades are historically male-dominated professions, but the number of women working in trades has been slowly increasing over the years. Jessica says that working in a predominantly male industry can be challenging.

“It has its ups and downs. It’s tough in ways that I can’t really explain. You can feel quite isolated. Even if everyone is really lovely to you, it still gets a bit isolating and other people can’t really understand. I work with a lot of really nice guys, but they would have no idea what it’s like to be the girl there. So yeah, it’s tough, but it has its good points too.”

Working in a trade comes with benefits such as flexible hours, opportunities to travel, job security, and great salaries. One of the biggest challenges facing women in the industry is networking, knowing the right people and getting a foot in the door. Jessica said the key for women looking to get into a trade is to just keep persisting.

“Just keep trying keep going. I think it’s quite disheartening when you apply and apply and apply and you aren’t hearing much, but, if you really want to do it, just keep trying. I guess it falls on employers and people already in the industry to be willing to give a woman a job and, you know, try that out. So, all you can really do is try.”

Canberra Daily is keen to hear from you about a story idea in the Canberra and surrounding region. Click here to submit a news tip.