Apprentice Technician - Highways Review

Within Arup I work within the highways team on a major project for a county council. My job is to offer CAD support in the preparation of drawing packs, compulsory purchase orders, and planning applications. To carry out these tasks I communicate with other technicians and engineers seeking advice and feedback and to learn from their experience. I also attend college on a day release basis where I am studying BTEC level 3 'Construction in the Built Environment' course.

Since starting my apprenticeship I have begun studying a BTEC level 3 in ‘Construction in the Built Environment’ on a day release at college which upon completion I will begin a HNC in ‘Civil Engineering’. Arup have also sent me on an ‘Apprentice Induction’ which was a 3 day course in the London office, and multiple CAD software user courses. Due to the hands on nature at Arup where I am closely working with other technicians and engineers I am able to learn from other people’s experience and knowledge which brings out the best quality of work from myself. I also have developed my communication and interpersonal skills from the office environment which has boosted my confidence when meeting new people both at work, and socially. Naturally, being part of Arup, I have picked up lot of technical engineering knowledge which I reflect onto my college and NVQ work, improving the quality of work I produce.

Within my role I most enjoy the professional atmosphere where I am part of a team consisting of skilful engineers and technicians. I particularly enjoy how closely technicians and engineers work together which gives a great feel of value and belonging within a team and helps motivate me to apply myself fully. Joining Arup has met my expectations indefinitely and I look forward to completing my apprenticeship with this company.

Arup provides a lot of support to their apprentices and they invest a lot of time to ensure apprentices are getting the experience they need in order to become a successful member of the company.

My apprenticeship means that 4 days a week I am in the office working and one day a week I am in college studying my BTEC level 3. Additionally I have a 6 month review in the office with an assessor from college who marks my NVQ reports.

Previously when there have been problems I have made the issues know to the training provider and whilst it has taken a short while for changes to come into place, the programme has definitely improved as a result.

The support network at Arup is very good and if I ever have an issue there is always someone who will deal with it in rapid response.

Considering that I take a 60mile roundtrip to get to and from the office this can be rather costly however I never find myself struggling at the end of the month and I can afford to reward myself monthly. Arup also offer an attractive flexible benefits scheme. I find that for an apprenticeship of this level the package I was offered was very attractive.

Arup encourage me to attend as many out of work activities as possible. This includes lunchtime talks, social events, and professional events held by awarding institutions such as ICE and CIHT as all of these things contributes to your Continuing Professional Development Record.

Yes

I enjoy working at Arup and I feel that they offer excellent opportunities for me to become successful.

Arup offer a lot of apprenticeships in different disciplines so I would encourage any applicants to research into each discipline and find one or two favourites. This will keep you motivated and engaging during your work should you be successful in joining Arup.