Clarisse Orchard considers herself extremely lucky she got a taste of welding in high school. Since then, the 27-year-old has crafted a career in the industry fuelled by passion for the profession.
“I never even thought about being a tradie ever,” Clarisse said when asked about her early school years.
“I wanted to be a psychologist, until I realised I’d be face-deep in books my whole life.
“That didn’t really fit with me, I’m a very hands-on person who loves to create things.”
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It wasn’t until year 11 and 12 that welding sparked Clarisse’s curiosity.
“There was an engineering pre-apprenticeship course you could do in year 11 and 12,” she said.
“One of the options through the course was welding, so I got a feel for it through that.”
After a gap year, and a lot of thinking, Clarisse recalled how much she enjoyed her taste of welding in high school. It was then she decided to pick up the welding torch long-term.
“I thought about doing something exciting, and welding was something that really struck a chord,” Clarisse said.
“It was something I could get my hands into with cutting and shaping things, but also there’s a lot of money involved.
“It’s a career that can set you up financially, but it was something I was also really into as well.”
A whole new weld
With her mind set on welding, there was no stopping Clarisse.
Like many women entering the trades, Clarisse found her first experiences in male-dominated classrooms quite daunting.
“In the beginning I found it quite hard, there’s a lot of expectations,” she said.
“You’re the oddball in the room, so you have to pass those barriers of being judged or misinterpreted.”
She said, however, that it didn’t take long for those ‘new girl’ jitters to shake off before she felt comfortable among her blokey peers.
“By the end of it, I was just one of the boys,” she added. “We were all doing the same jobs and getting the same opportunities, it eased up over time.”
Clarisse currently works for Callidus Group – A global market leader in total flow control solutions for severe service environments as a Technical Process Specialist. “I’m working behind the scenes to quote jobs, get jobs going and talking with clients and the guys on the shop floor,” she said.
“It’s really good because I’ve got both sides of the job covered now. I do have to go on to the shop floor sometimes if we’re short-staffed or if there’s shut down work to be done.”
Room to grow
Clarisse recently got involved with Weld Australia – Australia’s leading body for welding advocacy – after hearing a talk from its CEO – Geoff Crittenden.
“I told my boss when Geoff was done that I needed to go and speak to him because I loved the way he spoke,” she said.
“I went over and introduced myself and said I was a female welder, and he replied ‘I love meeting female welders!’.”
Clarisse has continued to raise the profile of women not just in welding, but the trades in general. She said while she considers herself lucky to be exposed to trades in high school, many girls growing up still struggle to see themselves in hi-vis.
“If I wasn’t exposed to it in high school, I never would’ve pursued it as a career,” she said.
“It’s very fortunate for kids growing up now that there’s more and more opportunities in high schools.
“It’s a bit different for young boys who have dads, uncles and brothers who are tradies- I didn’t know anyone who was in a trade.
“It’d be great to see more of it promoted in schools where kids -especially girls – can grow up to envision themselves in the trades if that’s where they wanna go in life.”