Apprentice Site Engineer Review

As an Apprentice Site Engineer in the overhead line sector, joining a new build project, my role involves helping my team progress the project from pre construction phase all the way to closing out the completed project. This new build will take a couple of years to complete. I support the project through both practical on site work and office based admin tasks while also completing my college studies. I'm on block release so I roughly spend 4 weeks on the project and then 4 weeks at college. A typical day often includes visiting various site locations, usually private land, to carry out ground surveys, 360 camera walk overs and environmental research. This data assists the design team in planning and development during the pre construction phase. It helps plan the access tracks for the lorries carrying all the steal and plant machinery get to the proposed tower locations and provides context of the environmental conditions. Other duties include supporting team members and sub contractors across different work activities, such as water crossing surveys, assessing environmental constraints and assisting with rig operations. Alongside the site work, I complete admin tasks to help the project. This includes organising survey data, project documentation and creating tower hazard plans etc. The project is constantly progressing, and if I had joined a year later, my day to day activities could have been very different from what I've experienced so far. This briefly sums up my experience so far working as an Apprentice Site Engineer at Balfour Beatty.

The programme is well supported with great guidance from the HR team, line managers, peers and college lecturers, which help with day to day support and clarification. However, the overall structure could be a bit clearer. For example, there have been some inconsistencies in programme lengths across my intake, and at the start it wasn't fully clear what specific modules or qualifications we would be working towards. That said, as the programme has progressed, the path and expectations have become clearer and the support available has always been a stand out. With a more defined structure from the beginning, the programme would give a clearer insight to apprentices as to what to expect over the following years.

I receive a good level of support from my employer. There is great support and guidance from the HR team, line managers, peers and college lecturers. My line managers and colleagues are approachable and willing to provide guidance when needed, whether it's for site tasks, technical questions or understanding project requirements. The HR team will always assist with specific queries such as travel forms, company cars, programme advice etc.

I receive a good level of support from my lectures whilst working towards my qualifications. The college lectures have assisted with my knowledge and understanding to help complete my studies and they provide resources to educate and test abilities. I'm able to contact them online by teams or email when I'm not at college if I ever have a question.

The qualification I'm studying is valuable, but much of the content doesn't directly apply to my current project duties on the new overhead line build. That said, it does develop my understanding of electrical engineering principles and problem solving skills, which will be transferable and give me insight into how engineering systems operate.

Yes

Yes I would recommend Balfours to a friend. It's a well established company that values it's employees. The company offers strong support from managers, HR team and colleagues, giving apprentices, graduates or anyone the guidance they need to develop and find their way to excel within the company. The onboarding process was particularly a stand out, plenty of support in the beginning to welcome and help you find your feet. The company values safety and personal development which makes it a positive environment to start a career. As the company values it's employees, there are plenty of perks and benefits which truly stand out compared to other employers. Balfour Beatty takes on a wide variety of impactful and exciting projects so there's plenty areas of work you can be apart of. I have enjoyed my time at Balfour Beatty and would recommend this company.