Meet Benjamin, a Apprentice Streets Engineer

What drew you to work at AECOM originally? What would that be now – has it changed?

The initial attraction to AECOM was how well established the company was, and how well respected AECOM are in the engineering world. I had spoken with friends and family and heard about the high levels of support and guidance available to staff undertaking their training and development programmes. Also, the direct access to higher education that AECOM provides, these factors were really important to me.

Right now, while the support and guidance are still at the high level I had hoped for, I have also been given the opportunity to develop my skills and experience by working on exciting new schemes, influencing the shape of the highway network and improving various local communities around the UK. This type of learning is invaluable for a more junior engineer like myself, and this would be a big factor in my joining AECOM today.

What is your role at AECOM?

I am currently a Degree Apprentice at AECOM within the Roads Team. I support the team through working on construction drawings and other project related documents.

How long have you worked for AECOM?

I have worked at AECOM since September 2021.

What do you like most about working for AECOM?

Apart from the challenging construction projects I enjoy, I also appreciate the daily interaction I have with colleagues at all levels. Working with such a diverse team gives me access to engineering knowhow, experience and guidance, this is building my professional confidence. I also love the freedom AECOM offer its staff through flexible working between the office, site, and at home, this is giving me the freedom to grow.

How has AECOM helped you in your career development?

The career development I have gained whilst working at AECOM has been phenomenal. I came to AECOM as a complete empty book with no experience at all, and in this short amount of time I have gained so much experience and picked up unreal amount of skills needed for my career. Every day you learn something new or useful and this happens a lot more when working with colleagues, who are always happy to help.

How do you use AECOM’s ‘Freedom to Grow’ to give you a good work/life balance?

Being quite an active person, I tend to utilize the freedom to grow to benefit when I attend football for example. This gives me more of an opportunity to attend these activities within work hours. Also a massive benefit of this is when a ‘last minute’ event happens which we have all experienced. The freedom to grow policy gives the opportunity to do the last minute things without a worry.

How do you find hybrid working works for you – what benefits do you get from office working, site working, and home working?

I enjoy the new ‘Hybrid’ way of working, as living quite far from the Manchester office, means travelling adds an extra 2/3 hours on top of my days work, which means I have extra time now to relax and recover for my next day of work. On the other hand I really do enjoy being back in the office as this gives the chance to learn first-hand off team members and also socialize with the team.

What has been your favourite project to work on at AECOM?

Most definitely it was the De Haviland Way project I was involved with in recent months. The main reason this is my favourite is it gave me a real insight on active travel and got me involved in designing active travel routes for the first time in my career. I enjoyed the freedom of designing and liked the challenge of restricting your design to specific standards.

Thinking about the projects you are involved in - how do you help to improve social outcomes for communities?

The projects I am involved in are mostly Active Travel Schemes, these focus on improving footway and cycle paths across communities and encourage residents to start undertaking a better way of travelling. These schemes have so many benefits including health and physical benefits and also environmental benefits, so I am proud to be a part of that.

What’s your proudest moment at AECOM?

My proudest moment whilst working for AECOM would be representing AECOM NW at the CIHT awards as a young professional. Being given this opportunity so early on in my career gave me that feeling of being valued in the business which is so important to everyone. I got the opportunity to network with other young professionals and senior engineers and was a great night representing AECOM.

What have you gained from working at AECOM?

Experience, knowledge, a lot of training opportunities, support, good colleagues, engineering principles and collaboration.

What advice do you have for any prospective candidates?

The advice I would like to give would do not be afraid to ask questions and ask for help, everybody at AECOM is always willing to help. Also I would suggest getting involved with your team as much as you can, attending team events, meetings for example as this makes a good working environment and makes work much more enjoyable.