Case studies: Site engineer: Mark

Mark is a site engineer with a major private sector construction company. He graduated with a civil engineering and building degree in 2004.

I took a year out of my degree to gain some work experience and I was fortunate to get a placement with a major national construction company. I spent the year in various roles covering many sites, which gave me not only great work experience but also a good insight into the industry.

On completion of my degree, I approached the same company who were having a big recruitment drive at the time. They had a number of positions I was interested in, and I was successful in getting my site engineer job.

My degree was essential in getting my job, but the work experience I had with the firm also really helped. I guess it gave them a good chance to see me in action, so I had a foot in the door really. 

A typical working day can involve setting out on site for all trades, checking drawings for errors or missing information, ordering materials, and supervising on-site contractors.
 
My role has developed quite a lot and become more technical and more computerised; although I have to say the technical side of things is what I enjoy most about the job. I also like being outdoors and being able to get out and about, visiting different sites and areas of the country. The most challenging part for me is managing or supervising staff.

The best thing about working in the sector is the variety of work and the huge projects that we can be working on. It’s very rewarding to see a completed project knowing that you helped build it.

As for advice to give students interested in this as a profession, well it’s certainly an exciting job and very rewarding, but can be hard to get into without any work experience. So that’s the best advice I can give really, just get as much experience as you can.