Trainee quantity surveyor Review

During my time working at Bam Nuttall I have been lucky enough to take part in the Blyth off shore wind demonstrator project. Which is the first of its kind. On this project I had a lot of responsibilities on site as it was a high turn over in a short amount of time. My duties included subcontract payments, weekly cost monitoring, assisting the QS with QF, pricing CE’s and variations got the client to name a few! I have had a brilliant experience and gained so much experience that I will Be able to take into other jobs.

I have learnt many skills. I have learn how to cope in a stressful environment, and been able to support the team however I can to help them if we encounter any issues. I’ve learnt all the policies and procedures I need to adhere to in order to fulfill my role, such as financial and health and safety. I have also learnt the importance of record keeping in order to use them at a later date in the scenario of pricing variations or if the client takes the contractor to cour.

I really enjoy the bespoke nature of our course. On how it is structured to maximise learning that we can use at college and on site. Such as the block release programme of 10 week learning and then 6-9 month site placements. I feel this really maximises the potential to take the information you’ve learnt at college and apply it to your site work, and the fact you can use working examples in your college work to apply to your assignments.

I feel incredibly valued on my course and throughout my time on site. My apprentice advisors are always in contact with me to see how I am getting on, to see if I have any worries or to simply have a nosy at how my project is getting on! On site my line manager has weekly meetings with me to review my work and to discuss if I have any queries. We carry out a quarterly personal development review to monitor my progress on site and this is very good to see how my seniors think I’m developing and give me good tips to progress.

The course is so well structured, from down to the course content, to the site placements and the management of the course. I could not do a better job myself! Or think of any criticism for my course.

I have at least fortnightly contact with my apprentice advisor. Who calls, emails or comes to see me. They are always trying to see how I am getting on.

I have so much support on site, from the managing QS, Agent and project manager. They are always helping me in any way possibly, nothing is a problem and they will drop anything to help me if I am stuck with anything. Which is very impressive as they are often very stressed with the project but never take it out on me.

Like any job there is always room for improvement on salaries based on individual progress. However Bam Nuttall pay a very high apprenticeship wage to me which I am more than happy with at this moment. With a pay rise every September bam are always improving my pay package.

On site we were always having team building exercises such as simply eating together as many of us were away from home, a day at the races, bowling or walks around near by hills. We had a very close knit team and it worked very well. We always have Christmas parties too which are very fun to see other people from other projects.

Yes

I feel very valued in Bam Nuttall and could not think of a better company to begin my career from. I am the second generation of my family to work at Bam and have saw it progress so much into things like digital construction and to building the first gravity based wind turbines. It is a great time to be in construction. I you want to gain a new family environment, bam is the place to go.

I would tell them to be themselves and to look at current projects to see if this is the career you want to be in. As it is not for everyone. However it is a great experience to have in the office and site experience. Construction is always changing so you are learning all the time, and it never gets boring. Especially when you have a great team around you to Keep your morel up when you are missing home