Graduate Engineer Review

My experience at Arup has been mostly positive, with the main highlight being the people who I get to work with on a day-to-day basis. Everyone I've met so far has been incredibly supportive and friendly, willing to reach out and make me feel welcome from day one. The less positive aspect was the lack of work for the first couple months (up to 6 months if we're being honest). It was a struggle to find things to do and I tended to feel guilty for not being productive. However, now that I've settled in a bit more I've found the work to be more consistent and quite fulfilling.

The main responsibilities of my role tend to vary from project to project - which is arguably one of the best aspects of the job. Being able to jump between projects means I can practice different skills and develop my technical knowledge in a range of areas. I've had the chance to do some modelling and analysis, data processing, and writing technical reports during my time here. I've most enjoyed the modelling and the technical calculations so far.

Overall, I think my contributions are listened to and I'm given the opportunity to take things on independently from the start which I've liked. There are points where either due to my comparable lack of experience or similar prejudices, I've found my ideas are shot down or its difficult to make myself heard. But these tend to be the exceptions rather than the rule and in general I feel like I've had the opportunity to contribute and am valued.

I think the amount of pay is fair for my level of responsibility. The main benefits are the private health care - which I've found to be quick, reliable and effective - and the flexible working. The flexibility that comes with this job has allowed me to fit work around my habits and meant that I can be as productive as possible - working at home when I need to and having additional support as required.

I think overall I've been supported in my ambitions and encouraged to reach out and chase what I'm most passionate about. However, there have been times where I've felt held back purely down to chance and lack of opportunities in my area - restrictions that other graduates may not have faced due to their geographical location having more available work. I feel like I've had to work really hard to get access to jobs that are in the area I'm interested in and that if I wasn't so proactive, I wouldn't get access to any of the opportunities I'm currently chasing. This makes me feel like I've had to work really hard to be prepared for my future career, rather than the company preparing me for it.

My line manager is brilliant and so supportive, always building me up and making me feel confident enough to take on new challenges that I would have been nervous undertaking otherwise. The people who I sit with in the office always make me feel inspired and proud to work here. Some people I've worked with on projects are less supportive and I sometimes feel like the effort I put in goes unnoticed. But overall, the support has been excellent.

My work life balance is pretty good, especially with having the option to work from home 2 days a week. This lends me flexibility and some additional time off work by removing the time I spend commuting. I can take breaks when I need and don't need to adhere to the 9-5 format, working later/earlier if I prefer.

The primary reason I work at Arup is because of the culture and values. There are groups in the company for marginalised people and there's a feeling of community in my team which I love. I like that because Arup is employee owned, we tend to be more conscious of the environment and the impact we're having on the planet. My only drawback is that we're very forward on the development of data centres and have taken on more work around natural gas, which feels less responsible than we advertise ourself to be.

I think Arup is really good when it comes to equality and diversity. I think the groups we have help to support and champion the needs of marginalised people and encourage a sense of community. I have ADHD and joining the disability group really made me feel like I was part of a larger picture, hearing from other people with neurodiversity and their experiences which I felt I could relate to.

Yes

It's a decent company to work for and the people here really make it a nice place to be. The flexibility and benefits are really good overall, and although the salary is a little lower than other companies in the industry, the values and standards Arup holds itself to seem to be higher.

Once I started getting work, the role matched pretty well to the recruitment process. Before that, it was quite disappointing in comparison to what I had been promised during recruitment. My only other issue was that I was told I would be working across two offices, which would have given me more opportunity to expand my skills and work in my preferred area. This ended up not happening even after I spent a lot of time chasing it, so that didn't match up to what I was told during recruitment too which was a shame. My role now though feels closer to what I expected.