Professional training for graduate engineers in contracting
When choosing an engineering design and construction employer, starting salary, employer location and opportunities to travel will be significant influences but make sure training is also high on your selection agenda. Achieving chartered engineer status is essential for progression and demonstrating competence and credibility in this industry: some clients demand it of contractors working for them. It is important that the employer you choose helps you get off to a good start.
Overall an employer’s training scheme should introduce you to your new company enabling you to meet other graduates and get to know other colleagues in the business. Structured graduate programmes typically last for 18 months to two years and most organisations provide rotational training through a range of departments. This provides insight into how the company operates and how the different departments interact. Importantly, a training scheme is the start of working towards chartered engineer status so it should be accredited by an appropriate professional engineering institution and should meet the requirements set by the UK Standards for Professional Engineering Competence (UK-SPEC).
Not all employers offer structured graduate schemes so you need know how an employer’s training will benefit your long-term professional career progression.
Find out about training at interviews and assessment days
At interviews and assessment days, make sure you ask about training. Ask the employer to explain the goals and purposes of its graduate training programme and outline the structure, including the training schedule. Find out how the training will be reviewed and how graduates are supported in their training. Where possible vendor visits and site experience should form part of the programme so ask about these. In times of downturn when opportunities for graduates to work on projects may be limited, how does the employer make sure that graduates get the experience they need?
You should also ask about the employer’s training record and find out what commitment and input the scheme gets from the senior management of the company. If an employer doesn’t run a structured graduate scheme, this isn’t necessarily a reason to disregard it. Just make sure you come away knowing how you will achieve your professional goals. Then weigh up whether it’s the right way of training for you.
An engineering mentor will guide you through the qualification process
When you start work you should be assigned a mentor. This is an experienced engineer who will meet regularly with you to assess how you are doing and provide encouragement, guidance and feedback on what you need to do to develop in the right direction. Ask the recruitment manager about your mentor meetings so that you know what to expect: what are your mentor’s qualifications for a mentoring role and what format should the meetings take? Written quarterly reports should be part of the review system as they provide a record of your progress and can also be used to highlight gaps in your experience and competences.
You can play a big part in structuring your training and development
Employers work hard to develop training programmes that satisfy graduates’ needs as well as their own business requirements, so once you join you can just sit back and enjoy the learning experiences, right?
Wrong! Once you start work you have to drive your own career and take responsibility for your own development. Seize all the training given to you and make the most of it. Identify for yourself where there are gaps in your knowledge and look for opportunities to gain experience that will take you in the career direction you want to go.
Develop good working relationships with your experienced colleagues as not only will they be a font of knowledge, they will also become your networks. More often than not experienced engineers are very pleased to share their experiences and have a career tip or two up their sleeves. By working with your mentor, your employer’s scheme and learning from your colleagues you should be able to lay yourself a very firm foundation for your future career.
