Engineer Review

Day-to-day tasks consist of producing reports, drawings and designs to assist in a mix of small and large scale Civil Engineering projects, I ranging from Ground Investigations to new flood protection schemes. I am mainly based in the office however I frequently visit proposed and in-progress construction sites to meet clients/contractors.

Over the course of my apprenticeship, I have been able to develop skills in order to allow me to function as a successful Engineer within Arup. They have provided me with inhouse training to compliment my studies at Coventry University, and have pushed me on many occasions to complete new tasks/projects that may outside of my comfort zone.

I enjoy the ability to work and learn at the same time, as I have been with the company with some years, there is a lot of responsibility given to me to complete project work, and when it is busy there is a lot of pressure on apprentices from various different angles, e.g. Project work, University Coursework and Exam studying and 20%/IEng training. It does seem to all come at the same time and requires a lot of 12+ hour days sitting at your desk to be able to complete it all.

The programme I am on as a whole is fairly structured. As I am one of the first degree apprentices that Arup/Coventry University has had I have been subject to a lot of trails and changes (as you would expect with a new course). I have been appreciative of the universities efforts to tailor the course to apprentices.

I am allocated 20% of my time to complete university work or on the job training, I have been allocated a Delegated and Supervisory Engineer to track my OTJ training and my overall development, however, project work always takes priority and can make completing the 20% difficult, as losing 1 or 2 days of OTJ training can snowball into a bigger problem.

For our degree, the university provides various ways for us to contact lecturers as we are not on campus for the majority of the time. Our training provider also tracks our OTJ training progress through their provided OTJ Training spreadsheet. They also visit our employers to talk through individuals progress.

A lot of the work that we have done at University has seemed completely irrelevant to the job role, especially anything that is theory-based, it is hard to translate and understand pure maths when you are used to functional-based problems, any group projects that involve full-time students appear to slow down progress, as apprentices end up babysitting them through the work which is counter-productive. The more functional and overarching modules have been the most useful, for example, Materials, Surveying, Project and Contract management as they have all directly helped me with my day-to-day job.

There are plenty of extra-curricular activities, ranging from rock climbing to football. Many of the activities are subsidised by the company and cost very little. There are almost daily opportunities for professional working events, these can be at lunchtime or after work and plenty are hosted within the office itself.

Yes

Overall I have had a very positive experience at Arup, they have given me the support to be able to complete my studies and further my career over the last 6+ years. The overall work atmosphere is extremely positive and most people share the same attitudes and are easy to work with. The senior leadership are down-to-earth and easy to approach.

I personally believe that Arup is looking for more personable candidates, people that are friendly and easy to get on with rather than extremely regimented and serious. At apprenticeship level, you will learn 99% of what you need to know after starting at Arup so it is more important you show that you are willing to listen and learn than trying to prove what you already know.