Spotlight on EngTech: Stacey Goldsmith
In recognition of this year’s International Women in Engineering Day (INWED), Jordanne Allsopp, IGEM’s Marketing Communications Co-ordinator, is speaking to women across the industry as they share their experiences of working in the gas sector.
When Stacey Goldsmith, Policy Engineer for Support Activities at Cadent, first joined the industry 25 years ago, she saw the gas industry as a ‘man’s world’.
However, she has seen dramatic changes take place, especially in the last 10 years. Stacey said: “We have some amazing and inspiring women in the industry, there is more awareness now of women’s health and we’ve created a more supportive and inclusive work environment that prioritises the well being of its employees.”
In 1999, Stacey began her career in gas by working for Transco via an agency in the customer complaints team.
This later morphed into National Grid Transco where, after relocating to Leicestershire, Stacey obtained a permanent position at the Hinckley office. As the company evolved, later becoming Cadent, she held a range of different roles as a complaints administrator, customer connections admin assistant, regulatory reporter, contract manager, policy specialist, design analyst, innovation analyst and in quality management and auditing.
Now working as a Policy Engineer, her role focuses on supporting activities in the business such as writing policies and management procedures and supporting the network with data and records requirements alongside her manager.
She enjoys the variety of the job as it makes no two days the same. During her career, she has found some moments more difficult than others.
High points have included the opportunity to learn and gain new skills, becoming a mum alongside developing her career and having supportive leaders who know how to push her when necessary.
One of the more difficult parts was returning to working after maternity leave to take up a brand-new role. She said: “One day, I found myself sitting in the corner of the office so nobody could see me and crying that I couldn’t do my job. I had the guilt of potentially missing my son’s milestones, being worried that I would be seen differently or not given the same opportunities as my colleagues because I worked part-time, or because I had to juggle parental commitments around my working day. I think we can be our own worst critic, but looking back on that experience has just made me more determined.”
When Stacey joined the engineering team in 2020, she became an IGEM member as part of her development path. Shortly after joining, she decided to apply to become an EngTech.
With support from her manager and mentor Sheila Lauchlan, she decided to go for it. “Having to think about all the roles I’ve had over the years and put them onto paper as well as sit through an interview really pushed me out of my comfort zone. Thankfully I had an amazing mentor who gave me guidance and support throughout the whole process.”
Stacey’s mentor was suggested by her manager to help support her EngTech application. After an initial meeting, Stacey felt very lucky to have Sheila’s support. “We spoke about what I wanted to gain from being mentored,” said Stacey.
“Sheila was so knowledgeable and easy to talk to, I felt like I’d been given such an amazing opportunity having Sheila as my mentor.
“We had monthly catch ups, set goals and timescales to get my EngTech application moving. It all happened so quickly and before I knew it my application was done and I’d been given an interview date.
“Sheila continued to mentor me up until my interview, coached me and advised me to just be myself. When I’d been accepted as an EngTech member, I was over the moon. It was hard work getting to that point, but I was very proud of myself and so thankful to have had Sheila mentoring me through the process as well as the support my manager gave me.”
Now enjoying her EngTech status, Stacey has been involved with a range of different IGEM standard groups and is a member of IGEM’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Group. She values the opportunities she has been given from her wider network and looks forward to seeing how she can get involved even further.
“STATE YOUR GOALS”
Sheila Lauchlan has been an IGEM member for many years and has led the way for mentoring both inside and outside the institution.
She tells us of the enormous benefits of the mentoring process, explaining that it’s motivational and a great pleasure to offer.
“Stating your goals aloud, even to just one other person, helps make you accountable for them,” said Sheila, noting that this is the greatest benefit of having a mentor.
On working with Stacey to achieve EngTech status, Sheila said: “Together we agreed what approach to take and set milestones for each section used to demonstrate her competence against the Engineering Council’s competency matrix.
“Stacey was already well respected and a well organised individual and completed each task within the target date. With Stacey’s breadth of experience, it was easy to draw out the information to fully demonstrate each competence.
“She was a pleasure to work with and as we progressed through the work, I felt her confidence grow as she explained how she met each competence.
“Helping even in some small way is, by far, the best part of any day and what I enjoy most about being a member of IGEM. It was a moment of great pride when Stacey informed me that she is now an Engineering Technician.”