By Miranda Pell

Copyright manchestereveningnews

A woman decided to ditch her “girly” office job and trained to become a drain engineer – now she earns more than double her old salary and has been able to buy her first home for £350k. Sarah Thompson now spends her days shovelling bird poo and cleaning fat out of factory tanks – but she says she loves it. The 28-year-old left school aged 16, and worked in supermarkets before moving to a job in a call centre for six years. But in October 2022, Sarah decided she wanted a job with more room to grow and learn, and she was tired of running out of money by the end of each month. Sarah jumped at the offer of a chance to train as a drain engineer for a family business and has never looked back. She now spends her days scraping bird poo off roofs, cleaning out factory fat tanks, lifting heavy manhole covers and driving all sorts of vans, but said she’s never been happier, or stronger. The unique career switch has more than doubled Sarah’s income, from £19,000 a year to £40,000, which has made it possible for her to buy her first home for £350,000. Sarah, from Thurrock, Essex, said: “Honestly this has been the best thing that I’ve ever done. The work is really fun. I never had a plan for a career when I was little, and I definitely didn’t think I’d be working with poo and rats and enjoying it as much as I do. “It was always my dream to work my way up to the top and to make loads of money – that’s still the plan. Every job I do I find the passion in it and give it my all. “I loved my ‘girly’ job, but there wasn’t enough room for promotion, and no way for me to up my money. “I really wanted to buy a home of my own but I was putting in all these hours and making a pittance. I love the self-sufficiency and therefore confidence my now job has given me. “This job is really good for me mentally too, I’m so busy that I don’t have time for overthinking, and it keeps me concentrating but in a really healthy, active, way. “I love it when we go into schools because all the kids see that I’m a woman drain engineer and they’re always really excited about that. I know I’m a good example to them and that’s a great feeling.” Sarah worked a standard nine to five job as a call centre operative from the age of 19. Along with her team of girls, she had fun dressing up to go into the office and admiring each other’s outfits. At lunchtime, she said they went shopping together, in Romford, and would get their nails done. Sarah said: “Our boss always laughed at us.” Then, in October 2022, Sarah’s brother in law was looking for a new recruit to join his drain company, Pipeline Drain Solutions, and Sarah’s sister asked if she wanted to give it a whirl. Sarah started, thinking it would be temporary, but discovered she loved the work and is still there three years on. “I was like ‘well, it’s something new'” she said. Sarah had to get used to the amount of spiders she encounters but loves that no two days are the same. She said: “I love this job. I’ve learned so much already and there’s still so much more for me to discover. I want all women and girls to know they can do jobs that are stereotypically for men, and jobs where they get their hands dirty. “Just because you do a hands-on job doesn’t mean you can’t look nice. I still do my hair every morning and I have my nails done every three weeks. I keep a nail brush in my bag and I double up on gloves. “I have to lift manhole covers, some of them are easily as heavy as I am, and using the jet wash is very hard work. I don’t need to go to the gym any more because my job keeps me fit and strong, and gives me lots of fresh air. “Also I didn’t used to drive much, just to the office, but I drive all kinds of vehicles now and over long distances – my driving confidence has increased dramatically. It’s amazing. “To be honest scraping scale out of urinals is the hardest job. It really stings your eyes. I think I’ve been most surprised by how many toads I find.”