apprentice engineer Review

My job role consists of being on site everyday and helping the engineer with the work. I help to set out, take levels and heights, measure gradients, set up profiles and temporary bench marks, monitor and make concrete cubes, use the GPS, monitor the drainage being laid, mark out and locate services etc.

Before coming on site my knowledge surrounding civil engineering was very limited. Whilst being on site I have acquired a number of skills. These include; knowing how to set out and check levels and gradients using a range of equipment e.g. GPS and dumpy level, knowing how to monitor concrete through the use of slump tests and concrete cubes, gaining knowledge of site health and safety etc.

I enjoy it most days as I have worked with great site teams and have received support I need from my site engineers, managers and mentor. I also enjoy the different sites I work on, meaning i get a lot of different experience and knowledge of different situations for the future.

i do not think that the programme i am involved in is very organised. When i first started this apprenticeship, my mentor was not given any plan for me and was not told details about how i should be working or the work that i need to achieve by the end of said apprenticeship. I also have a list of training courses that i need to go on in order to be able to do the full extent of work on site and have not been given any of this 19 months on. There have been no structure to my apprenticeship and i have been left to my mentor with no outline or personal development plan.

I do not believe that i receive enough support from the training coordinators that we have available at JN Bentley. I receive support and guidance from my site team (site managers, contracts managers, engineer & mentor) but have not had any site visits from the training coordinators or any check ups from anyone on the team. There is one small group of people that manage the apprentices and no one is available in the north-east for support.

At the start of the apprenticeship we did not receive any support or site visits. Our tutor took a lot of time off and never gave us clear instructions or help with our work. After he left we received a lot more support but still only had one site visit. I feel like the support from the training provider could vastly improve for our next qualification.

I believe that my qualification helps me work well on site as a lot of the work is specific to what i do on site and it vastly improves my knowledge as i am doing the research myself and am gaining the knowledge myself as well as the experience on site at the same time.

There are a few extra-curricular activities, such as; football and different sporting events to play.

Yes

Even though the support from the training team is very poor and the training managers do not give you any help, support of guidance, what you lack from that team of people you gain from the people you work with day to day. The overall company is very dedicated to ensuring that you are excelling in your job role as well as ensuring that you are happy and comfortable at work.

Work hard, ask questions, ask for the things you want e.g. training, support, work, be dedicated.