Wates Living Space Kickstarts Early Careers
We have a number of initiatives aimed at attracting young and talented individuals into the industry and to fulfil our social value commitments to our clients and their residents.
As part of our commitment to develop and inspire the next generation, we are working with Reed in Partnership to become a partner in Young Careers, a Greater London Authority initiative that provides students in the capital with innovative and useful careers advice.
As a Young Careers Champion, Wates will engage with young people across the capital in a series of fun and interactive sessions aimed at providing helpful career advice and industry insight. The first event took place in October at Haggerston School in Hackney where our teams spoke in detail about future careers with over 60 students.
In addition to their work with Young Careers, Wates also recently welcomed a new work experience placement, a business administration apprentice, and the latest colleague to join us through the UK Government’s Kickstart programme to the business. These individuals have joined at an exciting time and will learn essential skills that will help them develop their future careers. Let’s meet our new recruits!
KICKSTARTER
Cameron Artima-Patterson
In November we also welcomed Cameron Artima-Patterson, a Westminster resident who joined the Wates housing maintenance team as an Assistant Administrator. Cameron has had the opportunity to learn about how we deliver repairs and maintenance and attended a recent employers’ engagement event at Wembley Stadium.
Cameron said:
I am so grateful that Wates have given me this opportunity as I have learnt so much from shadowing others and getting ‘hands on’ experience. All the staff have been very supportive. At the end of this placement, I would like to get a permanent role as a Scheduler on the Peabody contract.
Alyx Sullivan, Kickstarter
During November Alyx Sullivan, a Brent resident, joined our housing maintenance team to work on the Southern Housing contract as an Assistant Administrator. Alyx will have the opportunity to learn all about how we deliver repairs and maintenance, the importance of social value and will take part in many of our initiatives such as volunteering, school engagement and improving green spaces.
Alyx said:
“It is great to work for a company such as Wates who are passionate about giving back to the local community. I felt that the Kickstarter programme was a good opportunity to start my career in the administration sector.
I am excited to have heard about all the amazing career opportunities at Wates and have heard nothing but positive thoughts from other Kickstart young people who are furthering their career at Wates. My first couple of weeks has been insightful and I have learned so much from a very supportive team.”
Kirsty Johnson, Customer Services Manager said:
“We are very excited to have Alyx and Cameron on the team and in a short space of time, they have fitted in really well with colleagues.
Wates is proud to offer young people between the ages of 16-24, the opportunity to come and work in our offices, develop new skills and learn more about our industry. We want to encourage more young people to join the construction industry and we are delighted to be able to provide some amazing opportunities for everyone to develop and have a bright future with us.”
WORK EXPERIENCE
Ayman, Work Experience Student
Ayman who is an A-Level student at St Mary Magdalene Academy in Islington, joined the Clarion team in October for a week of work experience.
Ayman said:
I would really like to become a Quantity Surveyor via the Apprenticeship route and in five years, I want to have gained my quantity surveying qualification.
This work experience at Wates was not just a sugar coating, it was very in-depth and a real eye opener which has encouraged me to further pursue a career with Wates . The Clarion team were so supportive and really live the Wates values”.
Hasan Civelek, Project Surveyor said:
We really enjoyed having Ayman join us to experience working in a live environment. Work experience gives us the opportunity to provide exposure of the different opportunities in the construction industry. We are more than just hard hats and hi-vis”.
APPRENTICESHIP
Spotlight on Jaden Dathorne-Howell
Jaden joined the Clarion team at Wates in January this year. Jaden told us that he decided to join the Apprentice route after completing his GCSEs as he wanted to work in the property industry.
Jaden said:
I wanted to gain a Level 3 Accreditation and applied for this role as a Business Administrator and was lucky to join Wates.
No two days are ever the same, I have been exposed to a wide range of experience from commercial, external administration and meeting clients which has been very informative. Wates gives me creative freedom when allocating tasks with access to a wide range of resources available to me and my colleagues are always on hand to support me. I had not realised that there were so many job routes in the construction industry and would encourage anyone to think about completing an Apprenticeship with Wates.”
Fred Owusu-Bennoah, Operations Manager said:
It’s great that Wates in partnership with Clarion can offer these fantastic apprenticeship opportunities for local people such as Jaden which in turn is all about investing in the future of Wates for our up-and-coming roles in project management, surveyors and customer services.”
