It’s Year In Industry (YII) student number three! Today you’re going to hear from Islam who is studying Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management like Jack who we featured yesterday. However, Islam is undertaking his degree at Nottingham Trent University.
He tells us in the Q&A below how he feels lucky to be spending the whole of his year-long placement at one project, so he can understand the processes right up until handover to the client. He appreciates being based on site so he can get outside and see progress with his own eyes and the support he’s received to be able to undertake many tasks as a Trainee Quantity Surveyor independently. Read on to learn more about his responsibilities.
What projects have you been working on?
I’ve spent around 90 per cent of my time at SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway (SLPEMG) on a civils and infrastructure project where Winvic is constructing a 53,800 square metre container storage yard and a car park with 20 spaces, 2 accessible spaces and 50 per cent EV charging. Two entrances are also being built, one for access to the offices and the other for HGVs. I would say I’m very lucky as this part of SLPEMG was just starting when I arrived in July 2023 and it will be complete in July 2024, so I’m going to be able to see the fruits of my labours across the whole 12-months of my placement. I’ve been able to look round the 700-acre SLPEMG and look at the twelve industrial facilities that Winvic have constructed as well as the Strategic Rail Freight Interchange, the terminal extension and the M1 junction highways improvements. Winvic has been working on this site since January 2017! I’ve visited a plethora of other projects too including the multi-room projects Crown Place in Nottingham, Kent Street Baths in Birmingham and Sylvester Street in Sheffield.
How did you come across Winvic and what made you choose us?
I saw Winvic at the Nottingham Trent University careers fair and handed in my CV, and I was invited to an interview. One of last year’s Year In Industry Students, Suleman, was at the stand and he explained to me what he’d been doing and learning. Then, when I started my placement, I met up with him again, which was really beneficial and made me feel at ease. I spent a couple of days at Crown Place Nottingham shadowing him and he showed me the work he’d been doing. What stood out to me about Winvic was my interviewer’s relaxed approach and he showed how Winvic takes care of its people, and I really liked this attitude.
What responsibilities have you had in the last 5 months?
My working day is always varied and includes creating subcontract orders, take offs – which is taking the information from the drawing and creating a bill of quantities – and uploading monthly payments on to the software that handles the payments. My mentor Holly who is an Intermediate Quantity Surveyor suggested I create a subcontractor management sheet, and this has proven invaluable in keeping track of monthly activity. I record all the payments and work completed to date and the spreadsheet formulas that I used allow me to see information clearly and quickly. I think best way to learn is working things out yourself, whilst always knowing there are people I can turn to for help if needed and Holly has helped and supported me to be independent. I’m really appreciative of Holly’s support and guidance and am now confident in my own abilities.
I love being based on site and have heard from some friends at university that they are stuck in the office a lot of the time. I get out on site two to three days a week and I’ve had the opportunity to observe activity like cut and fill works and drainage being installed. By seeing the project progress in real time, the numbers I work with become tangible and I feel that I can approach tasks more precisely and be better at my job. I’ve also been responsible for tracking the materials that are on site, so I’ve been out on site with the engineer to reconcile things like drainage pipes and paving slabs. I attend meetings with subcontractors about works and this has helped me develop my knowledge of all the different packages from fencing to kerbs.
What has been your best day on site so far?
The day that I was able to create a payment notice without any help from my mentor felt like a big achievement. Before I started my placement year with Winvic in July, I really didn’t have much practical knowledge and it’s the first time I’ve been on a site, so I didn’t have much confidence to start with. But with Holly’s support, something clicked on, and I realised that I am capable!
What’s it like being part of the Winvic team?
There’s a great team spirit in the office, everyone is respectful, and they made me feel comfortable working in the site office from day one. I felt part of the team really quickly and they all go out of their way to help me. We all have our focus on delivering the project in the best way and this bonds the team together. When I did my mini placement with the planning team, the whole department was helpful in showing me their roles and I’ve learned how the whole organisation fits together. It was really good to go back to Nottingham Trent’s careers fair recently, with two other placement students. It was almost nostalgic to see the second-year students doing what I was doing a year ago and it’s like the circle of life – I spoke to lots of students about my experience and got them excited about a placement, just like Suleman did with me last year, hopefully I’ve inspired them as much as he inspired me.
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