Aliaa Hajjeah is a qualified Civil Engineer who built a successful career in construction before her career break. Originally from Iraq, Aliaa lived and worked in Iraq under the backdrop of war, an experience she speaks of movingly and one which helped build her resilience and ultimately her positive outlook on life.

After the war, she moved to London for work, and met her husband. Together they moved to Dubai with his work, and Aliaa then took a 10 year career break to raise their 3 girls.

On moving back to the UK, Aliaa looked to return to her professional career but encountered many obstacles and rejections along the way.

In our conversation, Aliaa talks about how in the midst of all the rejections she considered settling for lower skilled roles, but found the inner strength to keep driving forward for the right role, “Surround yourself with the right people…who really care for you, they will remind you you’ve done this before, you lived in a war …all of these things …were like a wakeup…I shouldn’t give up…it’s not so hard”.

Hear how Aliaa rebuilt her confidence and found the strength to stay focussed on finding her perfect role as Senior Project Controls Engineer with Skanska Costain STRABAG Joint Venture working on behalf of HS2.

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