Apprentice Civil Engineer Review

My job role involves assisting fellow engineers on site and gaining first-hand experience from them in order to gain competence with engineering tasks. Some of these tasks may include setting out, taking measurements and monitoring on site progress through the use of diaries. I am currently on my first site placement in Manchester City Centre working on the refurbishment of New Islington Marina.

This apprenticeship helps you develop your communication skills enhancing your ability to work with other engineers and learn from them, the engineers on site give you the assistance you need to be able to go out and carry out tasks without assistance in the future, frequent contact with onsite workers means that you can also gain an understanding of what is actually being done on site. During college blocks you gain qualifications all from Level 3 all the way up to Level 5 with potential to go even further with the likes becoming chartered through the ICE and degree courses after finishing the programme.

This apprenticeship scheme has been enjoyable so far. College block’s in Leeds give you the opportunity to live away from home for short periods of time with fellow apprentices which is more than enjoyable, college is not a burden and work if kept on top of can be manageable. Site placements are also enjoyable with the chance to gain experience from engineers that have been in the industry for years as well as working alongside QS’s and project managers giving you more involvement in the job.

The programme itself is well structured with your year being split into site placements for the majority of the year with college blocks as long as three months usually occurring once or twice per year. The apprenticeship team try their best to place you on a site as close to home as possible, the option to work away from home is there if you requested.

Engineers on site give you the opportunity to shadow them and learn how things are done for future reference, they also give you your own responsibilities for particular sections of work giving you ownership for some key aspects of the project. The apprenticeship team also give you support when needed and are on hand for any queries or problems.

College blocks in Leeds are long enough for you to complete your work in time and to a high standard, tutors at the college are on hand for any help required. Deadlines are set and must be met however if you require extra assistance they do take that into consideration.

The majority of the college tutors have already been in the industry and have gone into teaching, this means that they can relate topics to what you may experience on site, subjects such as surveying provide practical experience which will come in handy when on site placements. BAM will also arrange site visits when in college.

College offer extra-curricular activities such as five a side football on a weekly basis, their is a students union in college that offer various extra-curricular activities. When on site placement extra-curricular activities can be offered or arranged between yourselves, probably more applicable when working on larger sites with more workers.

Yes

I would recommend this apprenticeship programme because the mixture of college blocks and site placements mean that when your apprenticeship is over you have on site competence and a full understanding of the industry with the support of professionals, something that is missing when choosing the degree route over an apprenticeship.

I would advise to anyone considering this programme to apply and if given the opportunity to get to an assessment stage then make sure that you are clued up on BAM Nuttall and its projects, also have a strong argument as to why you want to be a Civil Engineer or Quantity Surveyor. Health and safety is a priority within the role so I would be clued up on company policies such as 'Don't walk by' and 'Your safety is my safety'