Working alongside your sibling might sound like something you normally would not want to do, but for Catherine and Elizabeth Borg, they did not mind the extra time spent with each other. Elizabeth, a returning intern at G2, welcomed her younger sister Catherine for her first year with the team. From navigating fieldwork challenges to leaning on each other for support, the Borg sisters have discovered that having family in your corner can make the internship experience even more meaningful. We sat down with them to hear what it is really like to work with your sister.
Q: What is it like to work alongside your sister?
Elizabeth: I love working with Catherine. As a returning intern, it has been a lot of fun to show her around and teach her how things work. I have been able to watch her learn and grow in new ways, and I’m proud of how successful she has been! I’m always so excited to see her at the office or receive a phone call to exchange stories about our day on site. We always find something to talk about and have bonded a lot throughout the summer. We already know each other so well personally, which makes communication in the professional setting much smoother.
Catherine: So far, it’s been a huge benefit to have my sister working with me. Since this is her second year interning at G2, she has been a huge help to my learning and improvement. It’s comforting to have a familiar face that I can ask questions to and discuss work topics with. I also find it more enjoyable to see her as often as I can while we are in the office or making deliveries. I call her more often than I do anyone else, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. While I am grateful to have been able to make new connections with the company these past few months, I think that having my sister in the same job has been overall a net positive.
Q: What is one thing that you have learned from each other working at G2?
Elizabeth: One thing I’ve learned from Catherine while working with her is that it is always beneficial to ask for help when you need it. She is very good at asking clarifying questions and making sure she is doing her job correctly. She’s taught me that it’s good to accept help from your team instead of trying to figure out everything on your own.
Catherine: The main thing I’ve learned from working with my sister is that a lot of things in life are easier when you have connections. My relationship with Elizabeth has taught me so much about networking and what it can get you. By knowing her and asking for help, she led me to opportunities like this. She encouraged me to apply, and I was welcomed in as a familiar face. As we continued to work together, I got to know the people she knew, and others by myself. By working with Elizabeth, I’ve come to understand what people mean when they stress the importance of networking.
Q: Have you hit any challenges that you have been able to work together on?
Elizabeth: A challenge we’ve faced while working together is giving and receiving help professionally. Because Catherine is my sister, I find that I expect more of her than is realistic and tend to be less patient with her. I’ve learned how to treat her as a coworker rather than my sister when she asks questions. We’ve been able to build a respectable dynamic where we can give each other advice without letting our personal relationship get in the way.
Catherine: The main challenges that we’ve worked on together are the ones that I face on my project sites. Whether that is a question about testing, writing a report, communicating with the contractors, working with equipment, or whatever else I am having trouble with, I always work it out with Elizabeth. I am very adjusted to her way of explaining things and have found that she often has time on her sites to help me with whatever problem I am experiencing. It is also helpful because I don’t have to worry about asking too many questions to our already busy field coordinators, whom I still reach out to often. There is also sometimes the minor challenge of our names being mixed up and our dispatches confused, but that is always an easy and amusing fix.
Q: What’s your proudest shared moment at work?
Elizabeth: My proudest shared moment with Catherine was when we worked together on a busy Friday, covering multiple jobs when things were not going as planned. I had to take over Catherine’s concrete job so that she could make it to a high-security site to which she wasn’t originally assigned. After finishing my job, I arrived at Catherine’s site right as the concrete truck started pouring, and she had her equipment set up and ready to test. I immediately collected the concrete sample with her wagon while she got ready to go to her next site. She took my wagon, gave me her nuke, talked to the client, and quickly left while I was testing. She made it to her next site on time, and I was proud of our efficiency and quick thinking.
Catherine: One of my proudest shared moments with my sister happened during a particularly unexpected and memorable workday. There were some last-minute schedule changes, so Elizabeth was sent to cover a concrete job for me, and we were on a tight schedule. I was hoping she would arrive before the concrete truck did, but she did not make it until about five minutes after. From there, it was hard to decide who would do the test, since all my equipment was already set out, but I had not started yet, besides getting the water buckets and my wagon wet. In a split moment, we decided that Elizabeth would perform the test, but we had to hurry. I gave her my water buckets and wagon, sent her to get a concrete sample, and ran to get my gauge, since I could not take it to my next site. I packed up my truck and headed to my next site, where I thankfully made it on time. This day demonstrated our ability to work together under stress and a time crunch. The day ended successfully, and I am still proud of how well we managed it.
Q: What is one word you would use to describe your sibling as a coworker?
Elizabeth: Reliable
Catherine: Enthusiastic