Pros
Great training initatives, good close knit team, support from staff on and off site is great. During placement year I was really allowed to progress, by the end of the placement I was undertaking a number of big (for placement year) responsibilities. I was intergrated fully into the site team and welcomed from the very begining. The HR & training teams allowed me to attend serveral training courses I thought would be left until becoming a full time employee, but from earliy on they were investing in my development. - week long Site Surveying Course, 4 star hotel paid for, food & travel expenses - during placement completed level 3 NVQ allowing progression to Gold CSCS - CSCS test and card paid and organised by Balfour Beatty All work travel expenses paid, which is a huge help when working in london, travel card £300+ a month!! Good social scene and atmosphere between all areas of the company I came into contact with. Most importantly I was able to learn a great, great deal during my placement year from the experienced people I was able to work with. Built hugely on the theoretical knowledge from university and lots of opportunities to put it into practice. Whilst working on the project I was considered a full member of the site team, not as 'the uni student' to be kept to simple tasks. I was given as much work as could handle and able to work using my own initative regularily (not constantly checked and monitored) which gave me a great feeling of trust. Whilst there I had great feed back from the site team, project office team, and the project director on my progress. It was a great working year and I have recently been offered a graduate position once completing my degree, which I accepted straight away. If you have the opportunity to carry out a placement with Balfour Beatty I would strongly accept it, not just on site though. Through the friends I met at the company also on placements based off site they feel the same way.
Cons
- Due to the nature of the job you may need to work additional hours without overtime, but the salary you recieve takes this into account and any person in a managment position on site needs to accept this. - You may get moved about as projects are completed or to where you are needed most, but I like this aspect of the job.