Budding Brunels Student Aesha secures Degree Apprenticeship

This month, the Trust was happy to hear from a recent Budding Brunels student, Aesha, who gave us the news that she has been accepted onto a Degree Apprenticeship in the field of Civil Engineering.

We first met Aesha last year, as she attended a Budding Brunels course we ran in conjunction with Network Rail. On the course, Aesha took part in a number of activities including a bridge building practical, a speed networking event with industry professionals, and a site visit to the Intercity Express Programme works site at Paddington Station.

Throughout the course, Aesha showed herself to be a diligent student who really wanted to discover a career that was right for her. So, we were able to arrange a work experience placement for Aesha with TfL, specifically working with the London Underground team. The aim of the placement was for Aesha to gain a first-hand understanding of how careers she had learned about with us operate in real life.

Aesha told us that the whole experience helped her understand the roles that are available within the construction industry, which gave her the grounds to research potential career paths. This eventually led her to choose to pursue Civil Engineering. Aesha also said: “Through this programme and the additional work experience offered to me, I was able to further develop my skillset which helped me to craft my personal statement and my CV.”

Aesha, focused on becoming a Civil Engineer, then set about applying for university through the traditional route. However, an email from our Budding Brunels programme leaders, Deavon and Naomi, introduced her to the idea of a Degree Apprenticeship for the first time. Such an apprenticeship combines a full-time job with part-time university study, meaning that a student comes out with a few years of professional experience as well as a full degree.

Following this conversation with Deavon and Naomi, Aesha decided to change her plans and apply for a Degree Apprenticeship in Civil Engineering with Laing O'Rourke. Ultimately, she was successful in her application, and has recently begun work. This is what Aesha said about her apprenticeship: “I will be a Technician Engineer to start off, with space to progress and eventually have more responsibility (e.g. Site Engineer etc). The job varies from day to day and I spend a lot of time on site as well as in the office.”

Aesha also shared some advice for women who may be considering a career in construction:

“It's important to know that the industry is welcoming of females. I'd say to make sure you do a lot of research to actually understand the many (interesting) roles in the construction industry. We are often given a false representation of the industry but you'll quickly realise that it's exactly that - false.

Try to get yourself on work experience or at least get into contact with females from the industry (e.g. an engineer, project manager, quantity surveyor, etc) to get a first-hand account of what the experience is like so you can decide whether it's for you - I'm sure they'll assure you it's a very rewarding career.”

Everyone at the Trust would like congratulate Aesha for her achievement, and wish her the very best of luck for the future.