Undergraduate Engineer Review

My role has developed significantly during my time with WSP. I am in the third year of my apprenticeship and am on secondment to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Pool Council where I am now leading the design for two crossing schemes. My role involves designing and problem solving, liaising with contractors, generating cost estimates and attending site visits. I also attend university one day per week.

I came into my level 6 apprenticeship off the back of a level 3 apprenticeship, also with WSP. I have developed a variety of skills, both specific to engineering but also life skills. I've learnt to use a variety of design software, attending training courses on health, safety and wellbeing and have confidence in my ability to create and design sustainable solutions.

Hugely. I love being able to practically apply theory learnt in the classroom each week. I am an active learner, and enjoy learning on the job and find that only attending studies one day per week (rather than full time) keeps me interested and engaged.

Very. From day one there is a clear career path set out for you with guidance on the course and your work. Training is provided throughout the apprenticeship to continue your development, and WSP offer an incredibly supportive working environment to their apprentices. Apprentices are given the autonomy to identify where they need support specifically to their experience.

The support at WSP has been surprising, in the sense of how well supported I've been. Although study release is only one day a week, my team have allowed me to take additional leave when needed during busy times, such as exam season or when multiple coursework deadlines are approaching. I have also been supported with my work, and feel as though I can always raise any concerns whether they are small or significant.

WSP offers a lot of internal training courses from industry experts to help their apprentices develop. Apprentices are also supported to attend external training and webinars to further support their development.

The qualification certainly helps with a lot of soft skills, however I think the course can benefit certain apprentices more than others depending on which team they work in. Civil engineering is a broad industry, but the course itself contains a lot of content within certain areas which aren't applicable to everyone on the course.

Social activities are great at WSP. There's weekly football, badminton, run clubs etc. But other events are also organised such as christmas parties, go karting, trips to London, indoor sky diving etc. The sports and social club is very well run. There are also networking opportunities within WSP to meet others in similar roles from other offices.

Yes

The work life balance is very good at WSP due to how flexible they are. You're very well supported in the apprenticeship and a clear career path is mapped out for you from day one. It's an enjoyable environment to work with and gives you the opportunity to work on a variety of projects.

Research the company ahead of your interview, and be engaging and ask questions. Be open minded, WSP is a large organisation with many arms, and your career can go in a variety of directions. It may be that a particular industry you didn't have an interest at first will surprise you and offer you a career you dreamed of having.