Civil engineer Review

I work on one of the biggest projects at the moment in London and daily I contribute to setting Out, as-builts and shear veins. along with monitoring proof digs and keeping track of all the evidence needed for hand overs and signing off areas of excavated ground for the next phase.

I have completely developed my communication and surveying skills within my first year of this apprenticeship. where I can now comfortably deliver and carry out my own surveying tasks along with comfortably interacting with supervisors and senior members of staff to help understanding of what needs to be done and the best way in which the task can be carried out.

The program that I am on is enjoyable and very practical, given I am able to reinforce my knowledge through working on site. the way I tend to learn is very practically so having the two environments to retain knowledge and then put that knowledge to practical use really helps me reinforce what I have learnt.

The way the course is organised is functionable but there are areas that could be improved and consistently used. an example of this would be our review session which should be held quarterly but yet we haven't received any. this is lowering the levels of communication between apprentices, company and university. This should be improved.

My line manager and the team that I work first hand with are extremely helpful and allow me time during my working day If needed to carry out university work, along with help for any question I have in and out of work. Although I wouldn't know where I could get this from with regards to the HR team or a mentor which I currently don't have in place.

The tutors I have provide minimal guidance although the university do provide online additional information for the course. the information is fairly accessible although it would be beneficial to accesses the PowerPoints from the surveying lectures via moodle. there are certain hoops the students have to go through in order to communicate with some staff. I don't feel comfortable calling my tutor if an issue arises during the week, therefore this leaves me to resort to email which my tutor has said NOT to contact him by. As I am not a full time student this leaves me in an awkward situation when an issue occurs, this attitude needs to be worked with for the benefit of part-time students.

the way we have been graded this year hasn't been helpful especially with our construction and surveying course as we received one piece of feedback after one of our assignments, to help with understanding of where we are when it comes to the quality of work we were producing. after this one piece of feedback we hadn't received anything related to the assignments we had done up until now. By giving more consistent feedback from our assignments we could better some of the work we were to produce.

There are some events that I am aware of through talk amongst colleges but it would be good to have more inclusive events for all to take part in and ensure that the notification for these sort of events are sent through email to all, as not all are aware of events that take place.

Yes

My journey with Costain so far has been amazing I'm in an environment with so much going on that I am never bored, the site I'm on is one of a kind with plenty of training for me to undertake throughout my time at Costain. The diversity in the team I work in allows me to feel comfortable and understood.

Don't give up, even if you aren't accepted the first, second or third time ensure that you pursue the role you want to be in, and when you get that interview make sure to be honest and yourself. Show your best qualities, make sure they understand why you are an asset to there company.