My apprenticeship has let me choose my own path
Clarkebond is an engineering consultancy working for Wates Residential. To date it has supported two apprentices as part of its commitment to the regeneration programme. James Rodgers was one of those successful apprentices.
“My role at Clarkebond is supporting civil engineering work, which means that I assist with the design of drainage and highways, as well as learning about other aspects of civil engineering to further my knowledge.
What work have you done on the Wates and Havering Joint Venture sites?
“The jobs that I have done on the Wates sites are helping design on Solar, Serena and Sunrise Courts, Waterloo Estate and Napier and New Plymouth House. I have mainly been involved in drainage on these sites however I am slowly being given more work to do by myself. For example, I have created my own drawings for Solar, Serena and Sunrise Courts rather than assisting others on theirs.
“If I hadn’t done this apprenticeship to begin with, I don’t think I would have ended up in a role anything like this. I was originally applying for jobs making tool parts and only found out about the apprenticeship by chance.
How has the apprenticeship helped with your current career and personal goals?
“The apprenticeship has helped me with my career and personal goals as it has given me an opportunity to further my qualifications with ease by allowing me to choose my own path within the company. At Clarkebond I was able to pick a course that I wanted to take, whereas other companies did not give you that option. This is both my career and personal goals as I always wanted to achieve a Level 4 Qualification and Clarkebond are helping me achieve this.
“My career aspirations are to continue furthering my knowledge within civil engineering and construction. I am currently doing a level 3 civil engineering course at Chelmsford College and I hope to continue to complete the Level 4 course”
