Civil Engineer Apprentice Review

My role is a civil engineer. This involves walking around site and making sure work is up to date and running well. I also assist the senior engineer in setting out and getting levels, writing permits, reading and following drawings so further work can take place but also working along all workers on site to work as a team.

I have developed a whole branch of new skills i would never had learnt. I have learnt the basics of becoming a civil engineer, i can read any drawing in front of me and interpret to other workers. I have also improved a key skill in communication from working with a different type of people.

I enjoy my programme highly. It has so many different aspects of working at college, working on site and simply meeting new people. We go up to college in Leeds and i have met so many new people up there and had a great time. Also on site you can get a lot of work done but also have a fun time.

Our programme is very organised and set up in a good structure. As we start off with college and learn the basic skills and knowledge about engineering then we get to apply that knowledge on site. We also get time to study on site and can be asked to go on training courses.

We receive a lot of support, when we are on site we get frequent emails on how we are and about our site. We also get a Line Manager where on site they look after us and will help us if we are stuck on site or on work for college.

Our training provider for college is Leeds College of Building. They support us a lot with quick replies to emails and are always happy to help with work. While at college they are happy to answer questions during a lecture or you can find them after and get 1 to 1 help.

In my college blocks we study, and all this information we study about and remember, such as maths, health and safety, surveying, all of these help us on site and we apply all of the knowledge we gain on site. While your at college you may not get as much practical work done to get you ready for site however you get enough theory to know and explain what you do.

There are plenty to do. We started to play football as two 5 a side teams which was very enjoyable as it gave you a break once a week to play as a team. There were also table tennis areas in college where we played against each other and sometimes did tournaments.

Yes

As not only is BAM Nuttall a huge company but when you are a part of it you dont think of it like that. Everyone helps each other as long with the courses you can do are very good, the college is one of the best in the country and the support is very good.

My advice is when you apply for this apprenticeship make sure your application is solid and tells about your key strengths and how you would make a good engineer / QS. Also with this when you attend the assessment day make sure you are prepared and be confident in how you speak.