Trainee Engineer Review

My placement allowed me to know more about what it is to be a civil engineer based on a big project such as a nuclear power plant, it showed me that each individuals have responsibilities and why quality in such project is important. I learned a lot on the application of my studies and more such as rebars systems in a complex concrete structure.

My colleagues and line managers all helped me to understand more about the tasks that needed to be done and answered all the questions I had even the smallest ones. they made me feel included in the team and after a little while I saw that I gained responsibilities which made me realised my work was valued and they trusted me with bigger tasks.

The tasks I was given were left completely up to me to achieve them. However, any questions I had were answered by my supervisor. Whenever I wanted to discuss with, she made sure she left time for me to explain properly and came back to me a few time to make sure I understood. Even in her busiest times, she would save slots for meeting with me which I really helped me feeling like I was important to her team and not just another intern which would be gone soon.

I arrived on the project at a time when work was a bit slower than usual due to designs not being out yet and waiting on answers from the client. However, this helped me go deeper into the tasks I was doing and understanding in depth the organisation of the project. Hence, There wasn't a day during the placement when I got bored or didn't have a tasks to do, documents to read or meeting with colleagues to understand what they were doing.

I only stayed on the project for 3 months, but I feel for the little time I was there I was given more and more responsibilities and I was trusted with the work I was doing. It also came to a time when I was asked to help out on certain tasks a colleague was doing which made me feel like my opinion was valued.

Technically, I learned a lot about rebars in a complex concrete structures and why checking them are so important especially on a building that needs to withstand all kind of impacts such as earthquakes and plane crash. It also help me discover more about the organisation of a major construction company and the construction trades requires. The internship definitely motivated me for my studies and made me realise how important it was to get the basis in uni in order to be more confident in the job. It also reassured me that I could do it and the professional world doesn't scare me as much.

In the office we were multiple teams taking care of different parts of the project so unfortunately I didn't get to meet everyone. The atmosphere was great within my team inside and outside of work. Our line manager even organised events to visit other sites for team building which I found was really clever and made the team closer together as well as making us feel like we were taken care of. However I wish there was more communication with the rest of the office. I am sure if I stayed longer it would have happened but with only 3 months I still felt like a stranger to the rest of the project.

The fact that I never got a day where I was bored makes me say that the internship as well organised. With the joint venture with Laing O'Rourke, Bouygues Interns got to follow the events organised by Laing O'Rourke which I found really were prepared throughout the placement. The work was given solely by my line manager in Bouygues and she made sure I had interesting work to do for me which I really appreciated. However, I had a few issues with the administration side of it.

The joint venture between Laing O'Rourke and Bouygues on the project I was based on made me fortunate to follow training by both companies. On the Bouygues side, the training was solely based on the daily activities I was doing for the project and made me develop in different areas such as rebars methods and computer application such as NavisWork and AutoCad. I know those are skills I will be able to use for the rest of my studies and carriers. On the Laing O'Rourke side, events were organised for us to learn how to express ourselves, report were to be done for the end of the placement which helped in the presentation skills and reporting skills. Weekly meetings were also organised to teach us about different parts of the construction industry trades and the jobs on the project we were based on.

I definitely put Bouygues and Laing O'Rourke on the top companies to work for in my list. I will not rule out other companies to stay open minded to great offers, but woking for those two companies would definitely satisfy me and I am already making plans in my head if I do go work with them. I have loved the internship with them and was very happy overall which makes me think that a position within their organisation would please me. However, few points need would need to be adjusted administration wise.

During my internship I got very close to my colleagues who were most of them roughly the same age as I was. A lot of out of work events were organised as well as weekends. For the other placement students, as they were based on site and I was based in the office, I did not get to see them much and organise events with them. Looking back, a few more various event with colleagues made by the company would have been more than welcomed.

The place I lived in was in another city than the one I worked in so I had to take the train every day. In the area I worked in, prices were affordable especially in student areas which fits perfectly with me. As it was a big cities activities were found everywhere and very affordable. A food market was very near the office which made it easy for days when the lunchbox wasn't brought and put minds at ease money wise.

Nightlife was existent but didn't make the most of it as I was living far away and had to catch a train to get home. However I know that is is very good and not too expensive generally as there's a lot of students in the area. Various nightlife activities could be found for different type of people which pleases everyone.

Opportunities were made mainly by the team members and not by the companies while I was there but I hear that there's once in a while events organised for the members involved in the project and everyone seemed happy about it. The area I was based on makes it possible to find activities to have outside of work.