Apprentice Project Manager

Safaa is currently completing her Level 6 Project Management apprenticeship standard and is in her first year of studies.  

Safaa is based at the Maple Lodge site and is currently working in the Capital Delivery London Water Infrastructure department. She is enjoying working alongside her team on all of the exciting project that are ongoing and coming up 

Why did you choose to apply for a Thames Water apprenticeship?

Throughout my childhood, I always knew that I wanted to work for a company that made a difference, a company that provided a service that nobody could live without. That’s what drew my attention to Thames Water, I am now able to gain my degree alongside years of valuable experience, as well as being able to fulfil my dream of helping others.

I'd worked in two cooperate roles before applying for Thames Water, and still felt like something was missing, I happened to know a few people who worked here, when they spoke about Thames, it was always so positive. They described the company as somewhere you can grow, where you're surrounded with positive people who want to be a part of your career journey and are always happy to share their years of knowledge and experience with you. This is what led me to look into careers at Thames water, and here I am now.

Since starting here I've really been able to see just how much Thames water actually do, and how much work really goes into putting water in people's homes, there's still so much for me to learn, but my journey at Thames Water has been amazing so far.

Can you tell me about your life and career journey?

Growing up, I never really enjoyed studying. I always felt like I was better off doing practical tasks and getting stuck in. this made it really hard for me to concentrate in school, but none the less I still made sure I passed all of my exams in order for me to get the future I wanted. When I left 6th form, I went straight into the working world, I was an account manager for 6 months, that’s when I decided that Project management was something I was definitely interested in, and that it’s a career that I really have potential to excel in.

Tell me about your typical working day as a Thames Water Apprentice.

Tasks vary from day to day, as I am an apprentice, a lot of my role consists of sitting in on meetings with contractors and my line manager, and really understanding the stages of each project and why everything happens the way it does. As well as tracking these stages on databases that I have created, we use these to keep an eye on tasks that need to be completed and updating tasks that have already been done. Project management comes with a lot of paperwork and admin work, so ensuring this is all organised and kept up to date is a key part of the role.

A challenge I have faced is getting used to all of the different software's used and understanding all of the terminology, but this is definitely something that will get easier over time.