Connie Shiflett

Connie Shiflett is a construction professional based in Darlington, South Carolina. She has been working full-time in the field since 2010 after some earlier experience in the 1990s. Shiflett started her career as an electrician before transitioning to field engineering, where she performed inspections, helped resolve issues for craft workers, and acted as a liaison between engineering and the craft. She currently specializes in planning packages. Her background includes a high school education, some college coursework focused on general education, and extensive learning through on-the-job training. She attributes her success to determination and ambition, noting that she has always been very ambitious. Important values in her work and personal life include integrity and work ethics, with an emphasis on following through on commitments, completing any job worth doing well, and avoiding cutting corners. Shiflett identifies challenges as a woman in construction, including dealing with old-school attitudes that women belong at home rather than in the field, which requires working harder to prove oneself. She also points to abundant opportunities in the industry due to the need for younger craftspeople and engineers as the current workforce retires. The best career advice she has received is to learn all one can and work hard, and she advises young women entering the field to pursue a degree to become an electrical engineer instead of advancing the hard way and to avoid being lazy.