Tina Toh, is Lead Cleanroom Engineer, Singapore, for Exyte. As a young mechanical engineer in Singapore, she joined Exyte straight out of university so feels like she has "grown up" with Exyte. She shares her career journey.
Meeting colleagues across teams and building a support system
Tina admits that things were not rosy at the start. "Is this really for me?" she asked herself. Going on project sites and dealing with flaring tempers was not how she had imagined her career would start out like. But she hung on. She spent time in Malaysia, met colleagues from across teams and built a support-system which she treasures and which values her back.
"It has been 14 years now, in my first job," she laughs. "I grew up with Exyte."
Tina believes that bonding with teammates has made a huge difference. She considers herself blessed to have had the opportunity to work with extremely supportive people in every project she has been part of. "This is what made me - and still makes me - stay," she adds.
Being part of the Exyte family
Ask her about who ‘Tina, the person’ is and Tina will tell you about her two beautiful children. And then, she will tell you about her Exyte family: "When I got married, the whole office was there. It was like a little office party!"
When Tina was pregnant with her first child, her team would not let her go to the project site and would instead, take and share photos with her for her guidance. A new engineer was also attached to her as a trainee - so that when she went on her career break, the new engineer could hold fort. This gave her tremendous courage, because she had to manage her father’s ill-health at the same time. It gave her the confidence and comfort to take not just the four months of maternity leave, but an additional four months of unpaid leave as well.
Advice for aspiring women engineers
When asked about what advice she has for women engineers considering a career in construction, Tina has only one thing to say: "Hang in there. At first, it will be tough. But each job is designed differently - do not be afraid to experiment, you will learn and build character. You will work with several many people. You will get those big opportunities. And you will grow up, as I did."
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