Case studies: Section engineer: Rory

Rory has a degree in engineering and is now a chartered civil engineer, working for the company Graham...

I always had an interest in engineering projects. I can remember walking to school, seeing a bridge being built and watching every day to find out how the project developed and how the area was being changed by the construction. So it was natural for me to want to do engineering when I left school, first through an HND and then on a degree.

When I graduated, I wanted to join Graham in an on-site role. I am an outdoor person, and I wanted to be involved in actual construction - to see things develop, to work closely with people and to move towards a construction management role.

I didn't start working towards chartership straight away, and, looking back now, I think perhaps I should have. The first year certainly wasn't wasted – I got some great experience – but it is much harder to pick up studying again when you have had a long break. I am well on the way now, but I would advise any graduate engineer to start working towards chartership as soon as he or she can.

In the three years I have been with Graham, I have been involved in three areas of responsibility. My first project was to work on the construction of a waste-water treatment works. This was a project worth £35million which involved the construction of a new treatment plant and associated pumping stations as well as the refurbishment of eight existing pumping stations. We were using pre-cast segmental shafts to create underground tanks up to eighteen metres deep - one of the first times that this technique was used in Northern Ireland. Coming straight out of university to work on something like this was a great opportunity, and I took on lots of responsibility.

After a few months working in the pricing department doing estimates for the company, I then moved to Dunleary near Dublin to work on the refurbishment of a 150-year-old harbour. This had originally been made out of granite, and it was our job to remove the existing surface and resurface the harbour with a special mix of concrete. It was a six-month project worth 2.2million Euros, and the amount of responsibility I had taken on while working on the treatment plant led to me being given the site manager's role.

During this project, the architect had asked for the resurfacing to be done in a special concrete aggregate that reflected the local marine environment so, in order to achieve this, I had to set up our own concrete batching plant. This was very challenging, as I also had to manage the subcontractors, labour and resources. I was fortunate that I had a good contract manager above me and two good graduate engineers below me. In the end, the scheme went very well, and the client was delighted.

My advice to graduate engineers would be to get stuck in. There is a lot of work on at the moment, which means there are lots of opportunities to take on responsibilities. It might not be the same a few years down the line, so you should grab the chance to develop yourself towards a site manager role now.