Civil Engineering Placements
PROVIDING A REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE
The Civil Engineering placements that we offer at Winvic allow individuals to learn and shine over a period of 12 months in a structured training scheme. While you might not be coordinating the ordering and delivery of materials just yet, neither will you be asked to watch from the sidelines. You will be given the opportunity to play a fundamental role in the team as you develop your interpersonal, technical and practical knowledge on significant projects. Winvic creates its programmes to shape the engineering managers of the future, while taking your interests, natural flair and course into account.
Engineering and design mentors, along with other experienced Winvic staff, will be assigned to you along the way to help you get the most from your placement. Once you return to university we will be on the other end of an email or the phone should you have any queries, and after your graduation we hope to hear from you about joining the Winvic team permanently.
Our in-house training department will ensure you receive all the training and support you need, including:
- Site Management Safety Training Scheme (SMSTS)
- Surveying and Setting-Out
- A.T. and Signal Generator
- Fire safety
You will also gain experience towards achieving chartered membership of a professional body, such as:
- Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)
- Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
- Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE)
HEAR WHAT OUR YEAR-IN INDUSTRY PLACEMENT STUDENTS HAVE TO SAY:
Name: Ammara Dassu
Placement: Trainee Site Engineer between July 2020 and September 2021
Permanent Role: Site Engineer
Studied: BSc (Hons) Civil Engineering
Describe Your Role: At the start of my year out at Winvic I learned a lot with the health and safety department who took me round different sites and gave me a full overview of Winvic’s ‘Doing It Right’ approach and commitments. I started to shadow a site engineer at Mercia Park, and I helped on the groundworks, levels for manholes and the storm and foul drains. As the weeks went on, I started to feel more confident and I was given more responsibilities across
many areas, like the substations, kerbs, footpaths, cycleways, roads, roundabouts, water mains and ducts for other services. For example, in setting out the footpaths I would use my equipment to measure the required width from the kerb that has been installed, spray the areas, check the levels and use tape to mark where the edging should be laid to. I then work closely with the subcontractors to examine the finish. It’s felt really amazing that the team trusts me to carry out tasks independently and I think I’ve learned much faster this way.
Advice for people wanting to join Winvic? Don’t get too worried because everyone is on your side, and they understand you’re learning – at first, I felt too nervous to ask questions to experienced members of staff. It feels a bit silly to say this now because I quickly learned there wasn’t a single person who didn’t genuinely want to help me progress, asking questions is how you learn faster and there isn’t such a thing as a stupid question.
Name: Ed Hern
Placement: Trainee Quantity Surveyor between July 2020 and September 2021
Permanent Role: Assistant Quantity Surveyor
Studied: BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying
Describe Your Role: A lot of my job entails getting quotes, presenting costs to the team and organising orders, but a really important part of it is to build good relationships with everyone, and I enjoy being on the phone to subcontractors negotiating. I love my degree but it’s like construction is a practical language – when you see it for real, that’s when you learn the most and it’s really important for me to understand how the operations and design side fits together with the commercial side. I frequently walk out on site with an engineer to do inspections, like examining the block work setting out and that the rebar – for the concrete building frame – is laid correctly. I’ve also done a groundworks workshop, because that package was already complete at the Aubrey Place project when
I started, and placements with Health and Safety and the Design Manager.
Advice for people wanting to join Winvic? Speak to as many people as you can and learn about different roles and it will help you decide your direction. My dad thought quantity surveying would be a good career for me and I spoke a lot to my dad’s colleague who has been a QS for many years, so that’s what helped me make the decision about my degree. Then, when you’re on your placement, do the same – it’s a great opportunity to be around experience professionals. I’ve gone from being quite nervous to being confident about doing independent tasks and it’s with their support.
STUDENT HOLIDAY PLACEMENTS
Throughout the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays each year, a number of students come to work for us on short-term placements, which range from one to four weeks. We have no set rules in place about the subject or subjects that applicants need to be studying, and in fact, we support the need for wider awareness of the construction industry.
Of course most of the young men and women that apply for a holiday placement with us are learning about a construction related discipline, and we ensure they have the opportunity to learn as much as possible and get hands on in their field of choice.
“I would like to thank Winvic for giving me the opportunity to spend time at East Midlands Distribution Centre (EMDC), especially the project manager Josh, and Dean, who was the engineer I shadowed. It wasn’t as I expected at all but in a good way! I thought I’d be sat in an office but from the first day I was out on-site doing bits and bobs all day. I used GPS equipment, set out kerbs, measured various areas and put pins in the ground as part of marking out tasks. It has helped me loads with my Level 3 qualification in Construction and the Built Environment too because I could ask the experts and visualise things, which you can’t always do in the classroom. I can’t wait to come back!”
Maddie Wood, Civil Engineering Student, Level 3 Construction and the Built Environment
To find out more about our current ‘year in industry’ opportunities and student holiday placements download our brochure or get in touch with our HR department below.
