Environmental Consultant Review

I sit within the Sustainability team at Arcadis, my job originally involved moving around the different service lines to gain experience and understand which areas I would like to progress in. Now that I am in my fourth year I work primarily across two service lines: ESG and Climate Adaptation. My job regularly involves handling data, data analysis, writing reports, and working with a wide variety of clients and assets. As I have progressed I have begun to take on a more client facing role, whereby I attend and sometimes conduct client meetings.

I have learned how to use various programmes such as GIS and Flood Modeller. Additionally I have progressed my soft skills in areas such as presenting, this is something I really struggled with when I first joined but I am more confident in this now. I have also gained experience in taking on more responsibility in projects, from leading on client calls to writing reports.

I enjoy it more now than I did when I first started. Going to uni for one day a week as an apprentice can be tiring as all your lectures are back-to-back as they have to fit into one day of study. Additionally, it is hard to experience the typical uni lifestyle, many apprentices continue to live at home for the duration of their degree, and it is hard to make friends with the full time students as they have already established their friendship groups, and you attend uni for only one day a week. It is also important that you manage your time, you will have to sacrifice some of your social life to fit in your degree learning around your day job. However, the job itself is enjoyable, I find that although I wasn't given much responsibility for the first couple of years of my apprenticeship, which I have put down to subconscious opinions about my age and gender - and therefore my abilities, I have now moved on from completing admin work and enjoy taking on responsibility in a wide range of projects.

The programme is lacking in structure however I was part of the first cohort to undertake the programme and so there will inevitably be changes. The structure has improved since I started, the uni course is easy to follow and the degree is manageable. Where the structure fails is in the End Point Assessment. This is not the university or Arcadis' fault, the fault lies with the Institute of Apprentices who have provided very limited guidance on how to complete the End Point Assessment, which is a requirement to complete our degree. It is very easy to fail the End Point Assessment due to a very harsh marking criteria, however we have received no guidance on how to hit this criteria.

I have received incredible support from my employer. Arcadis have gone above and beyond to support my mental health while completing this degree. They have put measures in place for me to make my workload more manageable, such as an extra study day a week which I can take should I need it. The team are incredibly supportive and my Line Manager especially so.

In terms of the degree learning, the lecturers are very keen to help and answer questions regarding our assignments, and they are very accommodating to the apprentices. Where possible, they have put measures in place to try and limit the length of our university day as this can get quite long the further into the degree you get.

The content I learn in my degree is not something I can directly apply to my job. However it has helped with the following: - Through my studies I have been introduced to terminology which has then cropped up in reports I have read at work - I have learned how to use Excel and basic Excel equations which has been invaluable at work - I have improved my presentation skills and confidence when presenting through repeated exposure at uni which has really helped when I have lead client calls

My office has loads of extra curricula activities, from board games, sport, yoga, and a celebration fridge with snacks and drinks once a month.

Yes

Arcadis is a very people first organisation, my mental health has been prioritised here and I don't believe I would have accessed this level of support elsewhere. Essentially consultancy work can be done at any consultancy firm, however the enjoyment comes from the people and your colleagues, and a large reason as to why I love my job is my colleagues

Let your personality come across in the interview, focus on your organisational and time keeping skills if youre applying for the apprenticeship programme, and treat the interview like a conversation.