Trainee Civil Engineer Review

Working at Costain has been a truly enjoyable summer. The learning and development team are very skilled and placed me with a young and likeminded team. This made socialising with colleagues far easier and made asking questions a more comfortable situation for myself. I would not have got as much benefit from the placement if I was not so at ease around my workmates.

My colleagues at Costain worked hard to treat me as an equal from the word go. Criticisms were well balanced with credit when credit was due and I felt like I always knew when I had done a good job. This ensured that I was desperate to get tasks completed to a high standard, in return for the trust that I was shown.

Management was always open and honest at Costain. I would never be in a situation where I couldn't have 5 minutes of a senior member of staff's time for questions. Despite being left to find my own answers at times, this felt more real and I have learned more as a result.

Costain gave me a line manager but everyone in the office was made to feel comfortable in giving me tasks to complete. My tasks and workload were monitored through the company's use of detailed time-sheets and checklists. On the rare occasion that I was ever without a task, I felt able to ask several members of staff.

I was given a rapidly increasing amount of work and responsibilities at Costain. This was a big highlight of my summer. Starting off with the title 'trainee civil engineer' it was only a matter of weeks before my line manager was more than happy to treat me as a site engineer. Whether or not this was the case, I was made to feel it was only my lack of professional qualifications standing between me and th rest of the staff.

I learned more at Costain in 8 weeks than I have at Durham Univeristy in 1 year. Costain placed me on one of their fastest moving sites in the country, where I had the perfect balance of work behind s desk but still had excavators rolling past my window. Staff were excellent and explaining their roles.

Young team with a great atmosphere. This won't apply to every site but there was a jovial atmosphere at other sites I visited. People genuinely enjoyed their jobs and the work that they completed day to day. Socials were free and often and were a valuable team building experience for all attendees.

Once I received details of my placement, things moved fast and all information I asked for was swiftly provided. However before this stage there was a long period of waiting where I did not know the location at which I would be working which made accommodation, transport and holidays difficult to schedule.

Training was not just offered, it was actively encouraged. Costain's Learnin and Development team are second to none. They are calm and engaging whilst delivering questions and respond excellently to being asked questions. Costain invest thousands of pounds in training young people in a very wide variety of disciplines across the company.

Upon completing my early stages at Costain, I was formally offered a job should I meet certain conditions in my degree. This was an excellent surprise particularly as I am only in first year. I know a lot about the role I will enter and have enjoyed being a part of a company in which I will share a future.