Building Services Design Engineer Review

Most days I spend in the office doing a range of tasks. Including attending in-person meetings, teams meetings, responding to email queries from architects and contractors and predominantly creating engineering designs. Learning and using calculations to size pipes, cables, etc and then turning these into detailed layouts on AutoCad / Revit.

I had no previous background in engineering so have learned numerous skills. Including technical skills such as how to us design and modelling software along with general outlook skills like writing formal emails and using excel formulas. I have also developed my soft skills such as communicating with a diverse range of people and gained more confidence presenting at university.

I enjoy my general day to day activities and really like how much I am able to learn at both work and university. Sometimes, the responsibility and male dominance in the industry can make days more stressful (particularly when attending construction sites) than I would like and less enjoyable. Overall I enjoy the projects and people that I work with on a regular basis.

The apprenticeship is very clearly set out with the KSBs aiming to achieve through all aspects of the programme. There are numerous reviews with employers and training providers throughout the year which help to enforce the structure and are a good time to set plans to organising the coming months.

I receive plenty of support from my employer with helping to develop my skills at work. My mentor is a key part in this with regular catchups to check in on how I am finding the work load and projects I am on. There is slightly less support in regards to balancing work with the University and general apprenticeship workload.

They provide 3 sessions a year to review OTJ work and check in on how all of the training is going. My current training provider is very helpful with any queries I have and I'm able to contact him between the sessions if I feel necessary. I haven't yet encountered any issues in my university training to need specific help from my training provider.

I feel that the KSBs set out through the training provider are key in assessing my success in my role. The OTJ and log book tracking in my qualification really help me to see what areas I need to focus on more in my role and the areas which I am performing more regularly and exceeding at. Sometimes the tracking can be a time consuming process to try and balance with other workload, but I think the benefits of it are very useful.

We have an annual Christmas party and normally an additional 2 socials a year within our team. These are normally activity based such as darts of F1 simulators. There are also project socials with the whole project team during construction and design and at completion of a project. There is occasional football meet-ups which are organised by employee's themselves.

Yes

As a career starter they offer the opportunity to learn skills quickly and progress to hold more responsibilities within a short space of time. With the ability to manage elements within a project after just a few years at the company. The team are generally friendly and approachable for questions which is key as a n apprentice workplace. There are also many apprentices to socialise with and generally just help each other on the programme.

Don't feel like you need experience to apply, be honest with the skills you already have and express the skills you hope to learn and develop on the apprenticeship. Throughout the interview process they are looking for people they think will get along with the team so just be yourself and use any hobbies, part time work, or volunteering to show the abilities you have.