Civil Engineering Technician
Nuh’s job title is Civil Engineer Apprentice for FM Conway
I work for highway maintenance, so we look at the engineering elements of planning drawings and carry them out. There are so many different elements of engineering within different projects, you must know and understand the drawings before you do anything else. Sometimes this could be the renovation of an entire street, which could include new ducting, new electrical cables etc.
Hear more about Nuh's role by watching the video below...
In the morning I get in around 7.30 am and I have a to-do list for that day. I prepare emails, check what happened the previous day and make sure we are on track.
At around 10 am I go to the site and make sure it is compliant with the engineering drawings that we have, speak to the workers on site and make sure they understand what we expect of them.
Because we work for the council, I will go to around four different sites in a day. I have to do the same thing for each site, make sure the traffic management and permits are in place, and make sure that if we have excavated that a permit for that is in place.
At the end of the day, I will send off emails to our clients and then prepare a to-do list for the next day. It is all about being organised and knowing what you need to do for the coming week.
I was working on the Hammersmith Cycle Hub and we were instructed to put up a level slab so they could put the cycle hub on top. It was a very niche job. My mentor and I looked at water flow and counters to work out how we could produce it, spending hours on AutoCad.
Once we had the correct levels, I then went on to the site to communicate to the operatives how we would do this. There was so much happening I almost forgot I was an apprentice! It was a great confidence booster. My mentor was brilliant – he helped me a lot. Whenever I go past it now, I feel really proud.
The excavation days. The day you start, and you have the drawings, and you know how deep you are going into the ground; you might find something unexpected, and you have to change your plans. I love that challenge.
I have a great team. It was overwhelming when I first started, it was so fast moving. I get to speak to my mentor and the colleagues on site, so I am getting lots of learning experience.
I would like to become a Site Engineer. We have a big project in central London coming up that I will have an input on. It will be a bit more project management. Once I have finished my apprenticeship I would like to stay with FM Conway as they provide so many opportunities and are like a big family.
Discover what qualifications you’ll need, how much you can earn, and what the next steps are.
