JENKINS, Angeleen

Degree

Bachelor of Arts (Psychology)

Graduation year

1991

Current position

Non-Executive Director and Business Advisory Consultant

Employer

Various / self-employed

What are some of your career highlights?

Being one of the first female Directors in the Australian Construction Industry was a major highlight for me given the mainstream construction sector is heavily male dominated.  I served as a Company Director for nearly eight years

Having the executive leadership role for a successful performance of health, safety, quality and environmental in my final years as a construction executive

Strategy and business planning and helping others to write simple and effective business plans, together with measuring systems to monitor performance progress

Managing business improvement initiatives and seeing the benefits of the efforts employed for strategic turn-around, including developing internal surveys based on the business risk issues, collecting data, analysing and developing improvement reports for consideration

Undertaking a strategic safety review of a high risk business, developing culture and commitment surveys, interviewing people, analysing results then generating an improvement report

Describe the most enjoyable and challenging aspects of your job

Currently I am transferring from an executive corporate career to a non-executive director career and am thoroughly enjoying governance activities, after either years as an executive board member and 20+ years in a major multi-national construction business

Challenging aspects were diversifying the construction sector and giving females opportunities to be successful, and ensuring workplace inclusivity and equal opportunity for all

Seeing the end results of construction projects throughout Australia, Asia, NZ/Pacific and SE Asia and talking to the people on the sites was an immense pleasure

Serving the people of the Company as an Executive and a Director was highly enjoyable and I never took the privilege of that for granted.

What are your strongest memories while you were studying at Federation University Australia?

The student community and relationships forged, some are still friends some 25 years later

Quality of the teaching personnel employed by Federation University

The facilities at the University

Do you have any advice about life after study to pass on to current students?

Be considered in the choices you make for future employers. There are plenty of opportunities out there if you put the effort in.  Find an employer who aligns with your own set of values as that will be an operating culture that is likely to suit you to work in

Be prepared to put on the “L” plates again and be humble. Learn the business world and don’t expect to be the boss overnight.  It takes a long time to become a successful employee, manager and ultimately respected business leader Take workplace feedback constructively and see it as an opportunity for growth.

In one sentence what words of wisdom would you pass on to students

Make your ideas happen