I took part in the ConStructEd programme in 2017 at the end of my 2nd year studying civil engineering at Heriot-Watt University. I was eager to be involved and gain onsite experience to develop my skills and put into practice what I had learnt at university so far. This was my first experience being on a working site and I learnt so much.

My group, that consisted of various built environment disciplines, was tasked with constructing a scale model of the Kingsgate Bridge in Durham. It was a great experience to work with, and learn about, other disciplines that I am likely to work with in the future. Being involved from the planning stages until completion gave me an insight into how projects are handled in real life. It was really interesting to see how technical drawings come to fruition on site - in a strict time frame - and how important safety, trust and communication are in delivering programmes on time and on budget. I learnt so much about how a site works but the main benefit I took from the experience was how to effectively work with my team in order to provide a successful outcome.

Having an experience like this fairly early on in my university career really helped me to better understand the industry that I was getting into. It allowed me to relate my later studies with the experiences I had on site. I also found that when undertaking future projects at university with students from other built environment disciplines (e.g. quantity surveying, construction project management and architectural engineering) my communication and project management skills had hugely improved.

When applying for both summer placements and graduate positions my experience has been hugely beneficial in answering interview questions. My interviewers were very interested in what I had learnt from my experience – especially the mistakes made and my role in how we adapted to resolve them. It also helped when completing online psychometric tests as I was able to look back at how I dealt with situations on site and how I work within a team.

I will be starting as a graduate engineer in the highways team with Mott Macdonald after graduating university. The transport sector particularly interested me as it allows me to work with many other disciplines within and out with civil engineering. I believe that taking part in ConStructEd gave me the confidence to push my abilities and gain many of the transferable skills that I will continue to use in the future. It really did bring the world of work to life for me.

Hey, great to hear from you 🙂

I actually ended up talking about constructionarium a lot in my interview because the interviewer had also done it years before. We ended up discussing the projects we had worked on for about 10 minutes during the interview which I really think helped with creating common ground. Constructionarium was the perfect example showing so many different skills all within the one example. They really liked that I had practical experience with operations and planning from it too.

It helped me a lot in deciding in what area to go for. I really enjoyed working on site and interacting with operatives and others on site so luckily I get to continue on with that in contracting. ”

Participating in ConStructEd is what led directly to my first industry internship, and everything that then led on from that also. So I'm always grateful for that initial experience

Glad to hear its going well especially the promoting engineering/construction to female students. in response to your questions: Constructionarium definitely helped get a taste of what being on site is like and I would say mentioning it in my interview definitely helped as it showed that I'm not afraid of being on site which I think some students might be until they get that experience. What sticks in my mind the most was the joiners on site helping me with the tasks you had assigned us which further reinforced the idea of "Being on site isn't scary

Participating in (ConStructEd) constructionarium definitely had a benefit on my studies. I got a better insight into the kind of job that i’d be doing after university. I also think that it made me appreciate how vast civil engineering can be and kept this in mind that it’s more than what i learn at university. (ConStructEd) Constructionarium sort of confirmed that i would prefer to go into contracting rather than consulting. I had been leaning toward contracting but had no experience in either so enjoying (ConStructEd) constructionarium helped here.

My interview was more logistical; confirming availability etc so constructionarium didn’t come up but it is on my cv.

I’d definitely say ConstructEd has helped me in my career. It’s a great chance to get involved at an early stage and has broken a lot of the barriers between the theoretical studies to on-site engineering.

Now when looking back at it I’m realising how realistic the experience was made, including everything from tool hires, shift hours and all different sorts of engineering responsibilities. I’ve kept my constructEd experience on my CV til this day and am convinced that it has brought great contribution to starting my career.

No problem, I’m not sure the best way to do this for you but I’ll send it here if that’s ok. I felt the programme was a really good experience because I had switched last minute to civil engineering the year before (so had gone straight into second year with only 0.5 day work experience) and I knew very little about the industry. I enjoyed the uni classes but if I’m honest couldn’t see myself as a design engineer as a career and wasn’t too aware of other areas to go into. ConStructEd was great in that I found out more about an engineer’s role on site and in project management which is now what I am aiming for - at RSE I’m working on the delivery side and will hopefully be getting experience as a site engineer this year. Also it was good for me to learn more about the programme aspect of a project as yes there was pressure but we definitely needed it and pulled together on the 3rd day if I remember right!!

I’ve definitely used it as an example of experience on my CV and it was really helpful in pointing me to my summer placement and now apprenticeship because I knew I wanted to get more practical experience and not just learn the theory which obviously has its place. It was also a fab opportunity to get to know some of my classmates better. I’ve even mentioned it to the graduate I work with at RSE and he remembered doing it with Glasgow Caledonian University a couple of years ago! Hope this is what you’re looking for but overall I had a fantastic week and would definitely recommend. Hope you can keep it going for other students!

I remember being very busy preparing all the paperwork and having meetings with my team. I also felt very excited about the fact that we were asked to build a real building in smaller scale. Furthermore, I remember that a lot of emphasis was paid to the teamwork which helped me a lot because I am a doer and like doing things myself. I also understood the importance of delegating tasks when working as a team.
It has helped me to understand why we were going through specific topics or why we had to write so many reports. I suppose when you see the practical side of things everything gets a different meaning and you understand the process better.

I would say that always wanted to work in construction industry and I like to keep track of things and make sure everything is done on time. Therefore, I decided to study project management. The project week helped to reinforce my desire to work in construction industry. I have mentioned it in my CV and also spoke about it when was asked about my previous work experience/projects at the interviews.