Thaiana Salemem started with Murphy Ireland 9 months ago. Thaiana is the Site  Administrator at our Clonburris Project in Dublin. 

What do you do at Murphy?

My main role is to provide administrative support and assistance in the main office on site, this includes maintaining staff records which feeds into payroll and accounts payable duties which include invoicing and payment control. I am also tasked with the general day to day office duties.

What do you like most about your role? 

An element of the role I really enjoy is the day to contact with the other employees across all the different sectors. I would consider myself quite outgoing and being in contact with all the different sectors allows me to interact with varies types of people. Having this contact ensures that every day is different, the interaction is never monotonous and allows me to meet new colleagues.

What has been your biggest challenge at Murphy?

After working for over 18 years in the food and service industry, I was a little apprehensive at the thoughts of moving to a different industry. Despite having a lot of skills that were readily transferable, this is my first position in a construction role. From day one I’ve had the trust of my managers and I think this has really helped me settle into a challenging yet rewarding role that is full of daily learnings.

What attracted you to the construction industry?

I love the idea of being part of a project capable of changing lives. I’m impressed on a daily basis at how quickly everything happens and the huge efforts from the construction team to get all parts of the job delivered on time, no matter what the weather.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

It’s rewarding being in the middle of something so large scale that you are the supporting point that connects head office, the construction workers, managers, architects, and suppliers.

What is your proudest achievement?

That job is my proudest achievement. Being a single mother to an autistic child, I had to make some big changes the last two years. I made the conscious effort to go back to college to change career to have better freedom to help me take care of my son. It was challenging time to find a job that I could dedicate myself to as a professional and still prioritise my son. Today I have the chance to work in a company that is flexible, cares about the well-being of its employees and has a team that takes care of each other. I couldn’t be happier.

What are your career aspirations? 

To me, I still feel like I’m learning every day. I want to keep learning about this industry. I want to be part of bigger projects, and one day have a management role with Murphy.

On a typical weekend, what can we expect you to be doing?

I would typically spend my weekends with my son. We love going to the park on our bikes, the beach when the weather permits, church or visiting friends and family. Sometimes, I’m glad to get back to work on a Monday as they’re so busy.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself...

My biggest passion in life, apart from taking care of my beautiful boy is travelling. I love adventure, planning to go to new destinations and most of all visiting places that are steeped in history. Moving to Ireland has allowed me to travel to some of the places I dreamed about as a child while living in Brazil.