Civil Engineer - Baldeep Dhillon

Baldeep Dhillon,
Aged 21

Qualification
MEng Civil and Structural Engineering

What does your job role involve?
I work as a trainee manager on a student placement at Wates Construction. I work on a PFI project and I'm right in the thick of things. Although I'm a 'new boy' on site I'm expected to take responsibility for whatever I'm charged with; liasing with materials and equipment suppliers, setting out, quality control, coping with design changes, co-ordination between trades, checking drawings, supervising sub-contractors, managing logistics and playing my part in making sure work is completed on time and within budget. I work in a team of professionals so there's loads of experience to draw on

What do you do day-to-day?
A typical day involves being on site for 7.45am. I check my email and my diary and review the work scheduled for the day. Typically I could be comparing plans of the work on the ground and making adjustments, chasing suppliers for materials or discussing practical solutions with the people actually carrying out the building work. The hours on site can be long on major projects and we're dealing with changing circumstances all day long. It can be very busy and quite pressurised, which is really what makes the job interesting.

You've done a work placement...what did that involve?
The training programme I received at Wates not only gave me an experience of a wide variety of projects but also gave me extensive off the job skills training. What's more, I got paid for my efforts and for some students who rise to the challenge and perform in their industrial year, they will consider the option of final year sponsorship.