Commercial Assistant (Construction) Review

I am an assistant commercial manager on a site based in London. On a day to day basis I run one of the smaller packages. This means I have to make sure that all the relevant files are up to date and that I do regular progress checks on site to ensure that the work is being done.

I have developed my communication skills while being on site as I have had a lot more interaction with the sub-contractors. I have also learned how to use conject as this is how we issue instructions on our site. These two valuable skills I will be able to carry with me to my new sector once I start.

I feel that the 9 month rotation plan is perfect as it allows you to discover which sector of the business you would like to end up in. It also allows you to discover who you are and where you feel like you fit in most. By rotating every 9 months it gives you long enough to decide if you like a sector or not.

I feel at times that you are quite valued by Mace as ‘we are the future’, however as we are still young and learning that at times they can expect too much of you and feel that you should be more qualified than you are. This could be as we work for such a big company, however as we gain more experience and confidence throughout our degree this will change.

At times our programme is very well structured and organised. Once all the training dates have been issued then they couldn’t be more structured. There have been times where we have had training with school holidays which makes it very hard to book holidays, especially as you cannot miss university.

I would say that we receive little support from our training provider. They usually forget that we work and put all of our extra lessons on when we have work. They also tend to schedule revision sessions when we have work as well and don’t seem to understand that we only get one day release from work.

I would say that we receive a reasonable amount of support from our employer as they understand that as a human there is only so much you can do in a day. They try and give us as much support as possible at work by providing us with a mentor to help us through our first year, which we can carry on with for 5 years if we want.

In an ideal world I would like to be paid a bit more as most of my wages go on travel to work, especially when working at head office. I would say that it is a good wage for our age but when you have to travel into London every day and you live quite a way out it defiantly makes an impact.

In regards to any extra courses Mace offer an endless amount to everyone. I myself have enrolled on a BIM course to further my knowledge and then become a BIM champion which will then aid my role even more. Mace encourage their employees as much as they can and support them as much as they can along the way.

Yes

It is an amazing company to work for who give you so many opportunities in life. As a woman in construction it is so energising for such a male dominated industry and still be treated the same. At mace they give everyone an equal opportunity to excel in what they do and also gain as much experience as possible.

As a female who works in construction I would advise other females that it takes very thick skin to work in this industry especially as it is so male dominated. As an apprentice I would advise anyone applying to their scheme to try and learn as much as possible whether this be by asking questions or enrolling on more courses, whatever it takes for you to get the best out of this scheme do it. No question is a stupid question.