Civil Engineering Apprentice Review

I am currently a project engineer with London Overground at Transport for London. As a project engineer I work with project managers, sponsors and other commercial managers to provide engineering advice and help aid the design of London Overground projects such as the Surrey Quays Expansion project and the Surrey Canal Road station project.

I am constantly developing new skills while working for Transport for London. In my first placement in project management I learnt some great communication skills as well as managing everything from people, resources, tasks to stakeholders. I also worked with the engineering team on my surface transport project and gained skills in bridge and highway inspection.

I love working for Transport for London and love being an apprentice. I find the process of learning at university one day a week and then applying my learning to the workplace great for retention. Transport for London is also such a happy place to work with plenty of support from all my peers.

Transport for London have a very organised and well structured apprenticeship programme. When you join there is a corporate induction followed by a local induction which just includes apprentices in your industry for example engineering. When you start you are put into a placement and this rotates every 6 months on average.

At Transport for London there is lots of support from different people. Every apprentice has a mentor, focused on your development within the relevant field, a line manager, aimed at helping you deal with all your work related queries, a sponsor who is in charge of an area of apprenticeships and a training adviser who guides you through your studies.

As previously mentioned Transport for London is very supportive at work. The training provider for my apprenticeship is not great at supporting me with my university studies. They are not very well organised and communication with them is difficult and often uncoordinated. They have provided online lessons recently in light of the pandemic which was very helpful but some lecturers and very good at delivering these and others struggle to teach us the required content virtually.

The content I learn at university is invaluable in my workplace. I have applied lots of the knowledge I have learnt such from university in my work placements such as using computer aided design (CAD) for design and I have also been able to assess and understand the condition of assets using the knowledge I have learnt about materials and structures.

As well as the amazing placement opportunities Transport for London also has plenty of extra-curricular activates to get involved in such as the Graduate and Apprentice Committee (GAC) and the Schemes Mental Health committee (SMH). The GAC focus on career enhancement and have opportunities such as general site visits and disused station visits.

Yes

I have recommended Transport for London to by best friend because it is an amazing place to work and learn as an engineer. The sheer amount of projects and modes of transport we are involved with sets us apart from other companies and allows an apprentice to see what they like to do within the industry.

My main advice would be to do your research. Transport for London have 5 key behaviours that myself and my peers all work to everyday. Make sure you know these behaviours and can demonstrate them. Also be passionate about the role you are applying for and know about some of the projects related to it.