Allie and Will’s work experience at Victoria Road
Allie and Will are both second year A-level students at Brighton and Hove 6th Form College (BHASVIC) who have just completed a week-long work experience at the Victoria Road site with the Morgan Sindall Construction project team, where they got to experience life on site and behind the scenes.
As part of our plans to build for the future, Morgan Sindall Construction welcomes the opportunity to offer knowledge and insight to the next generation through work experiences and school/college partnerships.
Earlier this month we had Allie and Will join us on site and as part of our Victoria Road project team, where they got a taste for the industry. At the end of their work experience we asked them both some questions about how they got on.
How was your work experience week with the team?
Allie: It was really good! There was a wide range of activities each day for us, so it was never boring. Susie and Emily who are Quantity Surveyors taught us a lot about the finance side of the role, and it was really fun making some cash flow charts as well as some programming with Patrick. For me, I think the best part of the experience was going up to the roof top!
Will: It was great, the Victoria Road team are all lovely! They got us involved in as much as possible and used every opportunity to teach us something, seeming more than happy to do so throughout!
What did you do throughout the week?
Allie: I made a cash flow chart for the monthly payments and also learnt a bit about programming. We sat in a meeting with the site manager, senior site manager and the subcontractor, which was informational. Also, I went with Charlie, the assistant site manager, to do a safety check on site, and on Thursday we calculated how many tiles would be needed in the bathrooms.
Will: On Monday we were shown around the site, and Susie spent the time with us to answer all of our questions. On Tuesday, we completed a cash flow forecast sheet for the Quantity Surveyors. Wednesday, we sat in on a Considerate Constructor Scheme (CCS) visit and then on Thursday we measured the tiles ready for the bathroom on the project.
What did you learn?
Allie: I learnt about the basics of programming, and some essential excel skills such as using formulas for mathematic functions. I also learnt about a variety of job roles and the challenges with each one.
Will: I definitely have a better understanding of what the construction industry is all about, and it has given me good ideas about what I could do in the future.
What was the highlight of your week?
Allie: The highlight of my week would definitely be looking through all of the architectural drawings and viewing the timelapse footage of the site. We also met a site regular – a friendly squirrel on site!
Will: Learning more about using excel and navigating project excel documents was really interesting, as well as being able to go on site. I enjoyed the work that was given to us by the team, I think it has stretched my abilities and given me great skills, especially in excel!
What do you want to improve on?
Allie: I would like to improve on my understanding of construction terminology used in conversations about project progress. I’d also like to be able to ask more questions to broaden my knowledge and be able to sit in meetings for longer.
Will: I wish that I had some more time to get further involved in the projects and contribute something a bit more.