Jayesh Patel

NAME Jayesh Patel
JOB Construction management trainee
AREA OF WORK Construction management
EMPLOYER Skanska UK
QUALIFICATIONS BEng civil engineering, Cardiff University; MSc construction management, Cardiff University

I have worked as a construction manager and am currently on secondment to the in-house design team so that I can learn about that side of the business. While I work towards professional qualification, I am required to write a quarterly report to describe what I have achieved and learned in the last three months. This includes discussing the mistakes I have made and what I have learned from them. This report is assessed by a more senior engineer who gives a critical review of my work and assesses my progress. Throughout the development I have had a supervisory mentor who understands how I should be progressing and knows the standards I need to achieve. He also provides me with direction and advice.

Making industry contacts

I am lucky to have a good mentor, who has assisted me in keeping up with my work towards qualification. I have also set up a group for people aiming for their ICE chartership. This group is made up of people from several different companies and backgrounds, and the experience has added to my knowledge of the business and contacts for the future.

Lifelong learning

It’s important to find a good mentor, but you are responsible for your own training and much of the process depends on how hard you push yourself. Getting chartered isn’t easy, but a lot can be gained by maintaining regular discussion with your mentor and managers, and making sure that you are getting as much hands-on experience as possible. It’s important for construction professionals to continue their learning because projects are getting more complex and technology is constantly developing. In order to develop as a professional engineer, for example, it is vital that you know about groundbreaking projects and new materials.