Commercial Manager (Construction) Review

As a project based Commercial Manager, part of a time of several other Commercial Managers, my daily role consists of: The management of Sub-Contract work packages, which includes, contract administration, change control and the valuation and certification of payments. I am also heavily involved in the production of cost reports and detailed forecasts for the monthly Cost Value Reconciliation (CVR) internal reports, and client forecasts, reports and cash flows which are also required monthly.

Working within a team of construction professionals allowed me to develop the key fundamental skills required of a Commercial Manager. Ultimately I learnt that a good commercial manager conduct themselves with a balance of being contractual but also reasonable. I have developed skills of professionalism, patience, team working abilities and leadership.

To a significant extent. In my opinion a Degree Apprenticeship is the best way to start your career, especially at Mace. Given that I am now at the end of my programme, I feel that I have grown so much in my strengths and abilities to a point in which I am able to manager projects and people. I feel as though I have fast-tracked my career as I am now in a position in which the salary is good, I have a role which challenges me but also allows me to feel valued and I can see many different avenues for progression going forward.

From a Mace perspective, the programme is managed very well. In the first 1-3 years of the apprenticeship there are many in-house training sessions arranged to get all of the new starters up to speed in the areas which they may not have previous knowledge of experience in. Given that these sessions are front-loaded, this is beneficial for the development of new starters but also allows the apprentices once in years 4-5 more space to get on with their increased workload and responsibilities. From a University perspective, in my experience the programme and course has not be so well organised. It is very common to get feedback/grades back late for exam and assignments. There is a requirement to complete training logs for 20% of your contracted hours for the duration of the 5 year course. The importance of completing this was not emphasised early on in the course and only got made apparent that this was an absolute requirement of the course in year 3. This led to many long hours having to back-log hundred of hours of training logs retrospectively. Like I said, from a Mace perspective the organisation has been good.

A lot of support is provided from Mace, especially as an apprentice. The Emerging Talent Team schedule regular progress reviews for you and your line manager to attend. The pay is a little bit low in the first 1-2 years, especially if you do not live at home with family etc or are older than the 18 y/o college leavers. This improves in years 3 and 4 (based on your performance).

As mentioned earlier in my review, the university does have a tendency to provide feedback and grades later than the marking criteria stipulates and did not make the 20% off-the-job-logging requirement until it was almost too late. However, I do believe they are aware of these issues given that myself and many other students have raised them, and they are now working to improve in these areas.

Its more the other way around. The work that I learn in practice (during my 'day job'), is much more reflective of the work in which a construction Quantity Surveyor / Commercial Manager would actually deal with. Especially given that I spend 80% of my working week on site, this naturally feeds into my work at university in which I spend 20% of my working week at.

Yes, in my experience there are frequent social gatherings with project teams. Often going out for meals, drinks etc. There are also many events which take place within offices during work hours such as charity cake sales, secret santa during Christmas etc. Most teams like to keep things interesting and keep these sort of events frequent.

Yes

Mace is an excellent company to start your career at - especially through the degree apprenticeship scheme. You'll end up with 5 years of valuable experience, a degree, chartership and no debt; whilst being paid a salary the entire time. I have enjoyed my time so far at Mace and therefore would defenatley recommend.

Be yourself, be confident, and remember that as a trainee/apprentice you are not expected to know everything. Most apprentices starting off know nothing about construction (including me). You are applying for the position to learn and to BECOME competent and knowledgeable in your chosen role. Do not let this intimidate you. Obviously do research on Mace through the website or new articles etc so that you have talking points for the interview and also gain a bit of an understanding of the what the company you are apply for does.