I’m a female joiner and applied for a job at building firm… but what they said made my blood boil – now I’ve had the last laugh

A female carpenter has expressed her anger after applying for a job at a construction company but was offered the role of receptionist.

Charlie Dawe slammed the company’s ‘sexist’ bosses in Warrington, Cheshire, saying they should ‘stifle supply’

The 24-year-old said the interviewers did not ask questions about her training as a carpenter or experience as a construction trader.

Charlie thinks she only got the job interview in the first place because the firm mistook her for a man after seeing her name.

She told MailOnline: ‘It made me think the world is full of sexist pigs, so what’s the point of me looking for a job?’

Charlie says no one would offer her an internship during her three years at university, despite passing all her modules, and suspects this was also because of her gender.

She said: ‘I spent three years at university to be a furniture maker, not to sit at the desk and answer the phone and emails.

‘When I got to the interview they seemed confused and didn’t know why I was there, so I explained I was there for a job interview as a furniture maker.

“When they sat me down, they just spouted nonsense, which wasn’t typical interview questions.

‘They were not interested in my qualifications and I immediately got the impression that they were not interested in me.

‘A few weeks later they called me to tell me they had a job as a receptionist for me. I told them, “You can fucking do that. I don’t want a job as a receptionist.”

‘My bubble burst and it upset me, but I tried not to let it affect me because that’s just one person and there are plenty of other people.

“It was sexist of them to think I’m more suited for that than what I’m qualified for.”

The 24-year-old says the interviewers did not ask any questions about her carpentry training or experience as a building tradesperson, but offered her a job as a receptionist instead of the ‘Joiner’ job she applied for.

Charlie says no one would offer her an internship during her three years at university, despite passing all her modules, and suspects this was also because of her gender

Charlie, who only takes jobs in Warrington, says she is fully booked all month and much of next month so is struggling to keep up with the number of work requests

Charlie, whose interest in DIY stems from helping her father as a child, worked at hardware stores during college and for a few years after she left in 2019.

She accepted that her qualification as a carpenter was ‘likely to be lost’, but things changed when she became a computer technician and realized she was not suitable for the role.

She founded De Handywoman in October and is now a successful full-time furniture maker, working in her dream profession and helping with odd jobs.

Charlie, who only takes jobs in Warrington, says she is fully booked all month and much of next month so is struggling to keep up with the number of work requests.

She said: ‘I put it out to the builders’ merchants because it wasn’t stable working alone, but in the end I just said, ‘I’ll have to go for it.’

“When I first set everything up it was nice and stable, but now I’m fully booked for this month and fully booked for most of next month.”

Charlie believes that the company that offered her the role of receptionist has now gone bankrupt.