Apprentice Review

On a normal day, I will complete CAD drawings, attend design review meetings, attend team meetings and complete various other tasks. I am also part of the young staff member group and through this we attend STEM events as I am also a STEM ambassador. My working hours are quite flexible but I choose to start late in the morning.

The main skill I have developed as an apprentice with Arup is my CAD (Computer Aided Design) skills. I had a rudimentary knowledge of CAD from using it at school but I have since been taught how to use various other CAD software packages. My confidence has also increased from networking with other professionals.

I thoroughly enjoy the apprenticeship programme I am currently on here at Arup and I am glad I chose to apply for the role of civil apprentice from the other apprenticeship roles that were open during the time of application. I enjoy coming to work every day and find myself busy for the majority of the time.

I feel quite valued at Arup but at times I find myself doing repetitive tasks and not being challenged enough. However, for the majority of the time I do believe I am valued and the work that I do is appreciated by my colleagues. Overall, the appreciation received for completing work on time leads me to believe that I am valued.

My apprenticeship programme at Arup is very well structured. I am due to complete my College course and then go onto complete a bachelor’s degree in my given field. Although the details of the university have not been confirmed yet. But for the most part at work, my programme is very well structured.

My main College tutor is very helpful as she was previously a charted engineer herself but there are times where I believe the College is incompetent and disappoints, especially regarding the marking of assignments on time. On the other hand, my main tutor visits my place of work 4 times a year as part of my NVQ level 3.

I receive lots of support form within Arup, especially from more senior members of the organisation who like to catch up with myself and the other apprentices on a regular basis. With smaller tasks, I also receive a lot of help from members of my team, especially graduates within the team as they are a similar age to myself.

Although my travel is quite expensive to work due to me living over an hour away from the office, I find the salary to be adequate. It covers my cost of living especially since I live at home but the profit share scheme does not best suit apprentices as we have little experience and are of a low grade.

Most notably there is the Arup world cup, where several teams from different offices across the UK meet at a location one weekend and compete against each other. There are also opportunities to attend STEM events, especially for STEM ambassadors. As well as this, there are office events such as games nights etc.

Yes

It is overall a great apprenticeship scheme to be on.

Be yourself at your interview and dont worry if you make mistakes, everyone is human.