Date: February 10, 2021

National Apprenticeship Week celebrates the success of apprenticeships and looks to encourage more people to consider taking the apprenticeship route.

Read are proud of our apprentice intake scheme, with people development and retention of individuals being a key business priority. As a business, we have enrolled apprentices year on year for over 10 years.

We spoke to one of our apprentices, Wesley, who joined Read last year, about his apprenticeship so far.

Tell us a bit about yourself:

My role is to provide onsite assistance for the site manager throughout a construction project. This includes monitoring materials, equipment and also labour for the project. My role also includes completing daily diaries of who has been on site and what work they have been here to complete. My role primarily consists of working with the site manager to ensure that the work here on site is completed to a good quality standard and that work is completed on time.

What does your role involve?

I enjoy being an apprentice site manager as I can see a project progress and it’s very satisfying to see a project which you worked on finish to a good quality standard. I also enjoy working as a team to ensure that the project is completed to a good standard, communication and teamwork is key to ensure a project is run well.

What do you like about your job?

My working day generally consists of communicating with site operatives to ensure work being carried out is going to plan. I also complete daily site diaries, give inductions, provide permits to work for operatives and order and monitor materials. However, one of the main benefits of my job is that no two days are the same, therefore each day consists of many different duties.

What skills do you need in your job?

There are many different skills that I need to use every day in my job, the skills used most generally are:

• Communication skills
• Problem solving skills
• Team working skills
• Memory skills
• Motivation skills

What was your background before starting this role?

Before starting my role as apprentice site manager, I worked as a ground worker since I left school, in this period of time I was attending college doing the BTEC level 3 in construction, a part of this course was to complete a work placement and Read helped me to do this, I completed a week work placement as an assistant site manager which give me an insight of the benefits of this role. However shortly after I was offered an apprenticeship as an architectural technician which give me good experience of understanding drawings, but was then laid off due to the coronavirus pandemic. Shortly after this I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity from Read Construction to do what I enjoyed in my work placement but as an apprentice.

What are you most proud of in your career?

So far in my career I would say I am most proud of handing over the project at Ysgol Bro Alun. I am proud of this as I saw the project change so much from when I started there to when it finished.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?

I would like to develop my experience and qualifications enough to be managing my own construction projects in ten years’ time.

A bit of advice for anyone thinking about a career in construction?

I would definitely recommend doing the BTEC construction and the built environment course as it gives an overview of many different roles within the construction industry and allows you to choose your own path of which role you would like to undertake (as there are so many).

I would also recommend completing work placements and getting as much experience as you can whilst learning as this gives you more information of how the construction industry works (even if it is by working a role which you don’t think you will like). Every piece of experience you can get will build your knowledge and you could enjoy something more than you expected.

We accept expressions of interest for trade apprenticeships from May. To find out more, contact us at careers@readconstruction.co.uk.