Junior Project Engineer Apprentice Review

My mentor organises training sessions a couple of days a week. These are on the process and software to use when working on projects. However when I started these sessions revolved more around the water treatment process and health and safety. As I am 5 months in now I have started on a small project issued by my manager. I have been communicating with site managers and technicians to organise meetings and visits.

Since this is my first job in the engineering industry my skills have developed massively and I have learnt many new skills. Before I joined Thames water I was a lot less confident and my communication skills were not the best. Doing this role pushed me outside my comfort zone, although it is a daunting experience to begin with, I started to notice that I was improving. I truly experienced the importance of team work in this role. Although we are a team of project engineers and we all work on our own projects, the support and help available is great. I have developed my team working skills when I learnt how our team operated and got involved. Some specialise in e.g. electrical and some mechanical so it comes together perfectly.

My experience working this role with Thames water has been great. I am always reminded of the support available and I am learning something new everyday. I have made a lot of new friends at work and at university. I enjoy travelling to London once a week for university and applying the knowledge I gain, into the work place. Thames water really care about your personal development and give you time to do things such as your CPD for ICE.

Considering I am in the first group of project engineer apprentices for Thames water, the structure has been great and very well organised. My mentor who is also a lead project engineer does training sessions twice a week. Once a week I am at university and the other couple days I am working in my own project or my professional development. I also spend a lot of time having conversations with other engineers about their experiences.

I receive a lot of support as previously mentioned. I have been provided with a mentor who helps me with more work related development, an apprentice engagement partner who helps me with my professional development and university related activities. I also have a lot of support from my manager, he ensures I have the appropriate support and resources. I also receive a lot of support from the other project engineers who are always willing to help.

I am only in university once a week, so finding and speaking to my lecturers in person is not always an option so most of my communication with them is in email. This has not been a problem since they always respond quickly. I get lots of support from my skills reviewer to ensure I am meeting all my targets. My lectures frequently upload recorded lessons and resources to help us when we are not in university.

All the units which I am covering apply into my work. I am not only working technical units but in some I cover how to work ethically and my legal responsibilities when ensuring I am working safely. I am learning CAD which is not done directly in my team however it is very beneficial to know the background of the design and would allow me to clearly understand and see it.

There are many events organised for the apprentices across the company. I am in a teams groups with all the apprentices and the engineering apprentices. There are many networking events hosted at our hq Clearwater court throughout the year. There is an annual raft race where all the money raised goes to charity.

Yes

I have had a great experience with Thames water so far. The thing that I love the most is the support offered from everyone. Progression within the company is great and Thames water always want the best for you. I have already recommended friends and family to look into their apprenticeship programmes. The benefits and salary is also really good.

The most important thing is to be yourself and be confident in your ability and what you are capable of. There are quite a few stages in the application so it is important you stay on top of it and regularly check your Thames water jobs profile. They receive many applications so if you apply and don’t hear from them don’t be afraid to send another email or call them. This was the case for me and if I didn’t send that email I would not be in this position today.