When Fiona Manning first featured in the Irish Farmers Journal in 2019, she was starting her career as a first-year apprentice with ESB Networks. Now she is a a qualified electrician, and has been for the last two years, having completed her training in Kilkenny, Limerick and Carlow. She was one of only two women in her initial cohort.

Growing up on a dairy farm, Fiona was always a practical person and wanted to pursue a career in a trade.

“I would have always been outside, working with Dad on the farm. I went to an all-girls school, and there weren’t as many practical subjects as I would have liked on offer. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and my career teacher recommended that I go for a practical course and see what happens.

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“I had hands-on jobs on the CAO, such as construction management and similar roles. Then I went for the interview with ESB Networks and ended up getting it,” she says.

Fiona got stuck in from the start, and despite being in a male-dominated sector, she found her path and settled into working on-site.

“Between Kilkenny and Carlow, I was the only woman there for three years. Coming from an all-girls school, it was tough at the start, but after a while, I got used to the lads and they got used to me,” she says.

The apprenticeship allowed Fiona to earn and learn, which was a huge help financially.

“That was my first job, straight from school. Earning my own money, a weekly wage, it was really beneficial, especially as I was listening to my friends in college, complaining that they were just scraping by every week,” she says.

Once Fiona completed her apprenticeship, she wanted to stay within ESB Networks and did an interview based on her four years of experience.

She says, “There were a good number of technical questions – to ensure you took in all the important information throughout the apprenticeship. There are requirements as well, like getting your C license, which ESB Networks paid for; that would normally be a minimum of €800.”

Fiona is now working as a network technician, but she is constantly doing courses so she can get more approvals. These allow her to be in charge of jobs – switching out lines or doing live connections are now part of her role.

“My job involves a lot of new connections. Bringing electricity to a new house, a housing estate, a new shed and underground cables. On a day-to-day basis, I would mostly be climbing poles, building lines, running services into houses and diverting lines,” she says.

She adds that doing her apprenticeship with the same company means she has learned from the ground up. “There are so many different job opportunities within ESB Network. If I wanted to progress, I could look at working my way up to a Level 7 engineering degree in Limerick or Dublin. If you want to become a supervisor or an area manager, there are plenty of stepping-stone roles.”

Recruitment

ESB Networks is currently running a major recruitment drive for 120 qualified electricians across Ireland. They are encouraging people to join their team and work at the forefront of delivering electricity safely and efficiently to homes, farms and businesses across the country. The roles are open to any qualified electrician wishing to build a career, with competitive rewards. Applications are open until Sunday 14 September.

See esbnetworks.ie/careers