Apprentice Site Engineer Review
at Balfour Beatty
Higher Level Apprenticeship
Engineering
Lairg IV27, UK
Review Submitted: May 2021
Overall Rating
3 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
3.5/5
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Overview of Role
4/5
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Skills Development
2.2/5
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Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
4/5
I am an apprentice site engineer and my job includes working closely with site engineers/supervisor and shadowing them too learn the ropes. I am given responsibilities such as sand replacement or CBS tests and helping too supervise the gangs working on site and help them when required. also taking lots of photographs as evidence and for progress pictures.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
3/5
The programme has had its good points but also its bad points however accounting for covid also comes in too it. The on site aspect in my opinion has been really well and have been lucky to have found myself on two very good jobs however for college and apprenticeship/emerging talent side of things there always seems to be last minute and unorganised with little to no information given to us.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
4/5
I have recently gained my SMSTS qualification too excel my career as an engineer and supervisor. ive also gained other qualifications such as SHEA power and first aid which again makes my job CV more attractive. Communication has also been extremely developed because of the amount of people i work with daily and because of the dangerous environment we are working in.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
2/5
Personally feel it's not been well structured and it's been flung together as we have went on through the programme, everything just doesn't seem to be communicated back too us very well or explained in any great detail when we don't really know whats going on.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
4/5
In my experience almost everyone ive come across is always keen to help me and teach me things when i ask or are unsure on something. I also enjoy the help on how to improve my day to day work or how to uncomplicate things and keep them simple so the job is easier to handle.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
1/5
Not much support from certain lecturers, always seem too take a while to respond too messages/emails but do appreciate they have other classes too teach and other jobs to be getting on with, basically being taught verbatim off of a power point which doesn't work for a lot of us.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
1/5
Personally the qualification we are on has no relevance to what we do in our day to day jobs as we are learning about cad and quality which we will never use and have different departments for, there is maybe 2 modules that have any sort of relevance too our role and feel we would have been better on a different course and that we have basically been enrolled on the wrong course
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
3/5
right now not really but doesnt bother me, prefer having my own time after work and in my free time i like running and now that we are allowed im really getting back in too the gym. there is a few things to do around where i work and others not too far away
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Balfour Beatty to a friend?
Yes
Why?
decent company too work for with fairly good wages for an apprentice however would advise not too work for Balfours if they weren't able to work away from home as it is probably the biggest challenge for the job and something that we were blindly thrown in too without much warning as we were told we'd be kept close to home but were not
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Balfour Beatty?
read the job description very carefully and take in too consideration working away from home 5 days awake especially with families, kids etc. Definitely need to be sure you want too work in this industry if you work for Balfours because you will not buy in too the culture and will not enjoy the job.
