HRIA Young Professional Network | Interview with Brendan Semenikow

Can you tell us about your role at 1300TempFence?

I am the NSW Business Development Manager for Major Projects.

My role consists of building relationships with our Tier 1 clients on all Major Infrastructure Projects to assist with site security solutions based on our product range and beyond from being part of the tender process and seeing the job right through from the job being won to planning, right through to installation and staying on top of each site to continually assist with any hurdles they may face on site.

What initially drew you to joining the Young Professionals program?
I learnt about this program at last year’s Gala Dinner for HIRE23 here in Sydney and I really loved Tom Wood’s acceptance speech when he won. I became intrigued by the program and it gave me the determination to become this year’s winner at HIRE24.

I have always been someone who loves to learn and push to be the best at whatever I have committed myself to, so I thought this was a great opportunity to help my own growth within the industry as well as personally and professionally. I loved what I had heard about the program prior to starting along with the feedback that came from previous winners (Tom Wood) and other mentees.

What does being a part of this program mean to you?
It means everything to me currently, I have had so many emotions going through this program from initially intrigued, to nervous, to discomfort, to opening up, to learning and taking in the full experience with however it came at me.

From this, it has given me a full drive to hopefully bring home the trophy and be this year’s champion so I can pass on my experiences to future mentees and potentially be a part of the program as a mentor in the future.

What are you looking forward to most at HIRE24?
Catching up with everyone again from the mentors, mentees, the program organisers and the people I have networked and connected with over the course from other states but have not yet met in person. It will be a great celebration to reflect on how far we have all come from committing to this program and letting our hair down with a drink to celebrate.

From your experience within the program, what stood out to you the most and what will you take away from this experience?
Two Things really stood out to me:

1. My personal growth, things I have taken away from each session and brought into my everyday life. The simple things made me change my habits and impact in a big way outside of work.

2. My ability & knowledge, it was very eye-opening to see what I felt I knew in the industry and put me into a reality of what I thought I knew compared to how much I should know at this stage of my career. For example, in workshop 3 we were given a task to rate ourselves over some categories we face day to day in the industry and then get the feedback from our group of mentors & mentees we were in for the task, the way they seen I worked in comparison to how I feel I worked was very different & eye opening which I learnt a lot about myself and assisted in new thought processes to some of my approaches since this session and has been really beneficial.

Why would you recommend your program?
So many reasons….for networking, self-growth and professional growth. If you fully grasp every opportunity the course has to offer and feel every emotion of the program, you learn so much about yourself and how you can become a better version of yourself within the Hire Industry, for your current company and role you are in.

It opens up your eyes to other avenues you can go down within the industry and company you work for in the way of career development and always having a new network to discuss things with that came from this program within the HRIA Members, mentors & mentees.

I would highly recommend this program for anyone wanting or thinking about doing it. It’s definitely a life changing experience.

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about becoming a mentor?
Grasp and take the program with an open mind and give 100% commitment. You will feel a lot of different emotions throughout the program which is all only a benefit for your growth on this journey and know that you have the full support of everyone involved, you will come out the other end of the program a better version of yourself professionally and personally.