Industrial Trainee - Building Structures Review

I throughly enjoyed my placement at Arup as it gave me many opportunities to expand my knowledge from University and apply it to many jobs I worked on.

Everyone at the company valued my opinion and treated me like an asset to the team. They always included me in social activities and especially valued the work that I produced.

My managers were very supportive and always offered me guidance when I was unsure of how to complete tasks. They were extremely helpful when I asked many questions and always took time to explain anything to me no matter when I asked.

I was always given work to do and helped on a variety of small to large projects. I was able to work on projects from Bid processes to completing Health and Safety files for projects that were finished. This gave me a better understanding of project life cycles.

As I gained more experience I was given more responsibility as my managers were able to reply on me more as they were confident in myself and in the work that I was doing.

The skills and knowledge I gained whilst at Arup are extremely helpful for my future studies as I was able to implement my knowledge during projects. I was able to expand my knowledge and I feel as though that will be a great asset when I complete my studies at university.

Everyone in the office was very friendly and had a great attitude towards the placement students. They saw us as a great asset to our teams and were always helpful when we needed something. We were always included in every social event around the office.

The placement set up exceeded my expectations. Our managers were always helping us expand our knowledge when we were working on jobs and were always giving me jobs that required different skills. I was able to learn about all aspects of design, giving me better understanding for my future studies and especially when I came back to work.

My team had at least one training activity a week, where we focused on different things from learning new softwares to completing chartered exam questions. Throughout my year I also took part in a lot of in-house training, as Arup saw that it was important that I attended these courses in order to make my work and understanding of design better.

Future employment at Arup would be an amazing opportunity to have. The company is very focused on how their employees are and to help them better themselves in whatever way they can. Training schemes at Arup are also in place for new graduates to ensure they gain the right knowledge every step of the way.

The social scene in the office was great and always inclusive of everyone. We had an entire staff social once a month and had regular themed social events throughout the months also. Arup are a huge supporter in diversity and always had many events to support that throughout the year. I also helped organise many charity social events throughout the year and high was a great opportunity for me.

The cost of living in Belfast was relatively in expensive as well as different social activities.

Nightlife was great and there were always many options for activities late at night. Ranging from bars to activity parks.

Work was very flexible so you were always available to do activities in the evening hours and had plenty of time to do so.