For many of the 13 young women who spent a day climbing elevated platforms, operating cranes and cutting cable in Whakatāne recently, a career in the trades may never have seemed like a realistic option.

By the end of it, that was beginning to change.

Horizon Networks hosted its annual Girls with Hi-Vis event, welcoming female students from Whakatāne High School, Trident High School and Tarawera High School for a behind-the-scenes look at careers in infrastructure - an industry that has traditionally been dominated by men.

Gisborne electrical apprentice Annabelle Thorpe-Hall was among those who shared her experience with students on the day. Now completing her apprenticeship with ElectriNET, a division of Horizon Services, she told students she was drawn to the trades for exactly the reasons young women are often discouraged from them.

“What I really enjoy about my job is having a wide variety of work. Every day is different. You get to visit so many different sites, meet a whole range of people and use lots of different problem-solving skills,” she said.

Her message to other students was: “If it’s something you are interested in and enjoy hands-on work then give it a go. Don’t be put off thinking it’s a male-dominated trade.

Organised in partnership with Connexis, Girls with Hi-Vis has been running nationally for more than a decade, connecting female students with employers across the civil construction, energy, telecommunications and water sectors.

The day included a tour of Horizon’s Control Room, followed by a team-building exercise designed to mirror the trust and communication required in the field. Students worked in pairs to complete a giant Jenga challenge – one blindfolded, the other guiding.

“The girls had to pair up with one being blindfolded.

“The other had to guide the blindfolded person to carefully retrieve the block. This meant trusting each other the same way our teams do out in the field every day,” said Horizon Services training and compliance co-ordinator Annemarie Verster.

Hands-on activities continued outdoors, where students took turns in a mobile elevated work platform, operated a truck-mounted crane, and learned cable-cutting and heat-shrinking techniques. Some also carried out binding work on crossarms.

Thorpe-Hall was joined by Horizon Networks’ line mechanic Natalee Hughes, who gave students a candid account of life in the field.

“The girls really enjoyed having Natalee and Annabelle provide them with an insight throughout the day into what it’s like, including the rewarding days and the challenging ones,” Verster said.

Despite heavy rain in the days leading to the event, Verster said the team pulled together to keep the programme on track.

“After weeks of amazing weather, Mother Nature decided to throw us a curve ball of torrential rain, but the team came together and made it extra special.

“With a couple of amendments on the day, it seemed like the girls still had fun and made the most of it.”

The day concluded with gifts from Horizon Networks and prizes donated by local suppliers JA Russell, TransNet and Safeworx.

Verster said the event was a chance to show students the full breadth of careers available in the sector: from line mechanics, cable jointers and HV/LV electricians through to technicians, streetlight electricians, arborists, traffic controllers, civil and heavy machinery operators, engineers, administrators, co-ordinators and managers.

“At Horizon Networks and throughout our industry, whether you’re out in the field or working in the office, there’s a pathway for everyone.”

Connexis executive director Kaarin Gaukrodger said the programme helps young women discover career pathways they may not have previously considered, while offering work-based training that allows people to earn while they learn.

This year, more than 800 students from over 80 schools are expected to take part in Girls with Hi-Vis events around New Zealand.