Industrial Trainee (Electrical) - Buildings Review

I have immensely enjoyed my time at Arup and it has provided me with great knowledge of building engineering. I have gained a good understanding of electrical building services, as well as how electrical design work is done for buildings. I have also been able to use various industry standard software to perform this design work, and to discuss design proposals with both the internal team at Arup, as well as clients externally. My work has been quite varied and interesting.

I felt very valued by all the colleagues I worked with on different projects. I was entrusted with a great deal of responsibility, and attended meetings with both the internal teams and with clients and contractors, with whom I also liaised with directly. I was given tasks to take away and complete, which shows the trust the team put in me. My colleagues were all really friendly and approachable, and would gladly make time to explain anything that I needed some guidance on, or just for a chat as well!

Everyone I worked with was very supportive, and always ready to answer any questions I may have. Officially, I was assigned a line manager and a mentor for the year, and they would be my points of contact for any questions I may have. Both of them would check in with me on how I was doing, and would also discuss ways I could make the most of my time at Arup. My mentor also helped me to get familiar with the technical aspects of the work I would be doing and this was very helpful for me later on.

The workload tended to vary a little bit, depending on project stages. Some projects had stricter deadlines than others, and so there was quite a bit to be done, however, I never felt like I was overworked. The workload was a little light earlier on when I started on my first project, but this was to be expected as electrical building services were a new field for me. During that time however, I was able to self-study to gain an understanding of some of the technical aspects, which proved quite useful later on. My workload soon increased though, and I was given a variety of tasks to complete over the course of my placement, which I found were both challenging and engaging, and I enjoyed that a lot.

For a placement student, I was amazed with the level of responsibility I was given. From the onset of me starting on projects, I was given similar tasks to the rest of the team, but there was always support from my team, who always helped me understand the specifics of the task at hand. Over time, I was given more responsibility to take away tasks and work on them myself, with lesser supervision. The trust put in me was a great motivator for me to do even better.

The skills I have developed over the course of my placement year will be extremely useful in the future. The knowledge of building services I have accumulated will be helpful not just in my University studies, but has also enabled to put into practice what I have learnt earlier. Working in teams with people of various disciplines and co-ordinating with them has been an essential skill that I have developed. Having to meet strict project deadlines (where sometimes unexpected issues occur) without compromising on quality has been crucial, and this will be very useful in the future. I have also learnt how to communicate with people at all levels, which will undoubtedly be a vital skill.

The general atmosphere in the office was quite welcoming. You always see friendly faces around, and people do occasionally meet for a quick chat. In general it was calm, with people working on their own things, as well as people in meetings etc. At lunch time, you could go to the cafeteria to have a meal with colleagues, as a lot of people did then. You could also go around to people to ask any quick questions you may have, or discuss something and they were generally quite friendly.

There wasn't a set structure to the placement, as the work is divided based on projects. Each placement student is assigned to a project, and there are opportunities to work on different tasks within that. It is possible to discuss with the project team or your line manager if there is a particular task you are interested in, which you may be able to work on. It may also be possible to discuss what type of project you want to work on, though this may not be possible due to project availability at that time.

My colleagues provided me with guidance throughout my time at Arup. I was able to learn through various short online courses, with helped get a good understanding of the technical aspects of the work. My mentor also provided me with reading materials and technical exercise to help me understand how the various electrical tasks are performed. My project team was always willing to discuss any topics or tasks I had any issues with. In addition to all this, there were talks held on various technical topics, which I found to be very interesting.

I have had a fantastic placement year, and an opportunity to work in the company after graduation would be amazing. I have learnt a lot about electrical building services, as well as about building engineering in general through collaboration with other disciplines, and this has made me even more certain about working in the sector. It has been a great experience working on projects with amazing and supportive people, and to be a part of the work that Arup does.

There were socials organized throughout the year, as well as some being held online later in the year. There were also group/project team lunches held towards Christmas time. This was quite fun, and was a great opportunity to get to know your colleagues outside of a work setting.

I worked in the London office, and with that being in Central London, the costs of living were relatively higher than other cities or areas, as expected.

There were some pubs around that were busy during the evenings, however I do not really socialize at night time.

There were some groups that you could choose to be a part of.