Civil Degree Apprentice Review

My role involves civil maintenance and asset care in all aspects. This can include building inspections, surveying roads, bridges and pavements, inspections of secondary components such as ladders and edge protection, and others. My role varies between asset care and also delivery of work and engagement with contractors through stakeholders and work delivery systems.

I have developed skills such as presenting work and explaining projects in front of large audiences through repeated instances requiring this, I have also developed my analytical thinking through inspections, as well as drawing/CAD skills through continued use. I have learned new skills pertaining to the nuclear safety culture of Sellafield.

I enjoy my programme thoroughly, as I have built good working relationships with both my work colleagues and my fellow students at Gen2. I enjoy day to day work as it varies vastly meaning that it is always interesting and engaging, allowing me to learn new skills and meet different people.

My programme is the first of its kind for the civil discipline and therefore has a great deal of disorganisation as expected. There were uncertainties about college courses, work placement structure, as well as line manager responsibilities, as well as poor communications between Sellafield and Gen2, making things uncertain for the future of the course. However, a lot of these issues are being addressed and progress is being made.

I receive adequate support from my employer. I am allocated a personal mentor to talk with any issues I have, either work related or otherwise. I also have access to helplines to discuss mental health, and feel comfortable discussing any problems with my colleagues. I have also received support for my academic subjects from work.

Support is provided in the form of revision sessions and support sessions held each week, where tutors are present to discuss any issues with the course content. I can also ask specific question while at work via email and any useful information is relayed to all other students who have similar questions.

At the moment, the courses covered at college do not apply very much to the civil discipline. This is disappointing, but we are told that future courses in the coming years will be completely civil related, which means I will be able to apply this knowledge in the workplace environment.

There are some extra-curricular events we can get involved in, the main ones we have access to are continual professional development opportunities which contribute to chartership. These include lectures, product demonstrations, and learning from experience sessions. These opportunities help to add variety to the role and boost our technical knowledge.

Yes

Sellafield Ltd. offers a large number of roles, with the opportunity to branch off into other disciplines. For example, a lot of project management skills can be applied to other disciplines such as civil, in terms of cost and earned value management. Sellafield also offers a great deal of support to its workers.

Apply for all roles possible, whether craft, technical, civil, operations etc. This will broaden your chance of getting employed, and give you the opportunity to learn your trade, and if you desire, you can branch off into other areas. Speed interviews are a good example of having to sell yourself to a number of different disciplines at once.