Barrett Byrd Associates

Efforts to ensure a continual supply of new recruits to satisfy an anticipated growth in future workload has led Nuttall to look to sponsor students at a younger age. Mike Walter reports

Competition among construction companies to recruit talented young engineers and surveyors has led one contractor to start looking for individuals with promise at an earlier age. Nuttall offers sponsorship to sixth form school leavers on the ICE QUEST scholarship scheme as well as undergraduates who have successfully completed a placement with the company.

Sponsored students are then supported by Nuttall throughout their university life and into their chosen career path. Upon graduating and joining Nuttall, graduate civil engineers then enrol on a formal programme of training and are mentored by a ‘delegated engineer’ who will guide them towards membership of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Similar approved training programmes are also in place for quantity surveyors, mechanical engineers and electrical engineers.

The company also offers financial incentives to graduates joining the company. They receive a special allowance for each of their first three years working full time for the firm.

“Industry has suffered recently from a reduced pool of engineering and quantity surveying graduates to choose from, so we decided to pay more attention to students beginning their university studies and help guide them towards a career at Nuttall,” says human resources director Pat Swift. “We need to recruit between 30 and 40 graduates this year and up to 50 next year. This trend is set to continue, so we are having to think a few years ahead and identify the best candidates early on.”

Meeting the challenge of recruiting younger students meant a change in the company’s existing Graduate Recruitment Programme. The policy has produced a steady stream of new recruits in recent years, but it was decided that a company wide approach should be introduced and one member of staff should dedicate their time to introducing undergraduates and graduates to the company from a greater number of academic institutions.

Last summer, recruitment administrator Nicola Young was appointed as the company’s new student liaison officer after demonstrating a keenness to help develop the next generation of engineers and quantity surveyors at the company. Her new role is to work more closely with upward of 20 universities across the country to make the students aware of what a career in civil engineering involves and the options available to them before and after graduation.

“I am working closely with university careers services, civil engineering departments and quantity surveying departments to offer placement opportunities, sponsorships, presentations, lectures and site visits to help students become more aware of Nuttall and the career opportunities in contracting.” Nicola says. “Representatives from the company host presentations for students and we are currently delivering lectures in construction practice at various universities. We have also recently arranged site visits for students to Nuttall projects both at the Humber International Terminal and Battleship Wharf at Blyth.”

Efforts to familiarise students with the company has also led Nuttall to sponsor a mixed netball team at Birmingham University and to support Newcastle’s civil engineering society ball.

Sponsored students who complete their academic studies and begin full time work are introduced to Nuttall’s professional development manager Kevin Howat. Kevin is a former line manager of 19 years experience with the company and currently oversees a rolling total of approximately 120 recent graduates, of all disciplines. He also monitors the efforts of 70 established ‘delegated’ engineers and quantity surveyors, who provide mentoring to the newcomers. Kevin also provides numerous business related courses of further training for recent graduates; from setting out and surveying, to project planning and programming.

“Civil engineering trainees write a quarterly report which they submit to their delegated engineer for review. Those reports detail experiences and identify lessons learnt on site and are used to provide evidence against a series of development objectives set out by the Institution of Civil Engineers,” Kevin says. The training programme refers to nine ‘attribute groups’ which have to be demonstrated fully by a candidate at their Professional Review.

Nuttall is currently able to provide accredited training on behalf of five professional institutions. Engineering graduates are encouraged initially to work towards Technician level after between one and a half and two years before attempting Incorporated status after between three and four years and full Chartered engineer status after five or six years.

“I advocate the progressive approach to professional development,” Kevin adds. “Young people often have other worries such as paying the mortgage, getting married and having children. We do not want to offer a training programme that just focuses on working towards full Corporate level after six years. That is longer than time spent at university, so may appear daunting and put some people off. Our approach allows people to become professionally qualified earlier and it provides a good insight into the review process and builds confidence.”

As part of the training programme, graduates complete a year in a design office. This could either be at Nuttall’s head office in Camberley or with a secondment to one of the company’s design consultancy contacts.

Nuttall offers employment opportunities to students who work towards either a Master or Bachelor of Engineering degree. Many under graduates may view a four year MEng as the yardstick qualification for the industry, however those working towards a three year BEng degree need not think that professional recognition is beyond them. Nuttall has an approved further learning programme to provide on-the-job training equivalent to the final year of the MEng course. There is a similar programme in place to address the difference between HND and BEng qualifications to achieve Incorporated membership.

Human resources director Pat Swift adds that graduate recruitment is key to the future success of the company. “These young people will eventually occupy significant positions and could one day lead the company. We have always maintained our graduate recruitment programme, even through periods of recession, to ensure we have sufficient junior and middle managers on board.

“We have to continually be on the lookout for future managers in various disciplines and see our Graduate Recruitment Programme as part of our long term planning.”

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Sub agent Doug Mills and environmental engineer Rosemary Ogle are two young Nuttall employees to have made great strides with their careers, at least in part thanks to the company’s Graduate Recruitment Programme.

Doug, 28, has been with the company for six years and is carrying out site investigation work on the Olympic park in east London. He successfully sat his Chartered Professional Review with the Institution of Civil Engineers last October.

“The company provided all of my training and conducted mock interviews with me prior to the professional review. My mentor was terrific and helped me to stay focussed,” says Doug.

Rosemary, 25, has worked on a series of road construction projects including the A645 upgrade in south Wales, since she joined Nuttall on a holiday placement while studying civil engineering at Bristol University. She is currently seconded to Gifford to gain design experience and sits her Chartered Professional Review in April.

“I began working with the company as a trainee engineer during a pair of three month summer placements and ended up looking after a drainage gang,” she said. “Nuttall has been very supportive throughout my training and everyone at the company seems to want to help the development of young people.”

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