<p>Last Wednesday, we welcomed Hydrock to our South West Skills Campus, to inspire our T Level learners from Engineering and Civil Engineering.</p>

<p>Employer engagement and focussing on careers is a key part of our course delivery, with learners gaining insight from industry to enhance their learning experience.</p>

<p>Hydrock who are passionate about addressing global challenges through smart engineering solutions, delivered three engaging sessions to our learners, which focussed on sustainability, and also developing key soft skills required by employers.</p>

<p>The sessions included:</p>

<ul>
<li>Future Communities – learners designed their own community</li>
<li>Soft Skills Development – several activities which aimed to develop communication, empathy and assertiveness</li>
<li>Career and CV Workshop</li>
</ul>

<p>Dave LeFeuvre, Subject Area Manager for Building Services, said: “I would like to say a big thank you to Hydrock, who delivered some really creative activities for our learners, which got them thinking outside the box to tackle challenges. The learners have commented on how beneficial they found the experience.</p>

<p>“On the back of this session, several of our learners are now looking to complete their industry placement with Hydrock, which is fantastic news.</p>

<p>“At Weston College we feel it is important to connect our students with employers, to bring industry to life in the classroom.”</p>

<p>Find out more about our T Level courses by click the course of interest, below.</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/const… Engineering</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/engin…;
</ul>

<p>The field of Designing, Surveying and Planning in the Construction industry is a broad one, but highly important to the development of societies. The stages that go into construction require huge amounts of time and dedication, but ultimately results in great success!</p>

<p>This field is a great path to go down, and an increase in the workforce in this profession would be highly beneficial to the field, but one that includes more equality and balance would be a massive step forward for the reputation of construction. Construction is often seen as a ‘male’ job, and we want to help show that anyone, regardless of gender, can have a successful career in construction.</p>

<p>So, we want to present 5 reasons why this could be the perfect career choice for you, and kickstart your path in Construction: Design, Surveying and Planning!</p>

<p>1.<strong> Important work!</strong> As previously mentioned, this line of work is highly important in supplying new homes and buildings for towns and cities as the demand increases, and pre-empting this demand with the planning aspect of the sector.</p>

<p>2. <strong>Keeping busy! </strong>This career choice will be demanding in terms of needing to be easily adaptable to picking up new skills, as it will likely be ever changing, and you’ll be expected to keep up with what’s expected of you. However, this will mean the job will not get boring, and you’ll always be kept busy!</p>

<p>3. <strong>Specialised qualifications to get you in the job!</strong> The courses, including <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/const…;, <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/const… Levels</a> and<a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/const…; transition programmes</a>, are offered to both <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/const… leavers</a> and <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-adults/course-finder?… Weston College. These courses are specifically designed to prepare you for this career choice, with a great balance of academic college learning for the theory side, and workplace experience to provide you with practical knowledge.</p>

<p>4. <strong>Specialise in your strongest area! </strong>After selecting which course is best suited to you, and completing the course, you will be able to decide which aspect of the sector is best suited to your natural skillset, and which you could see being your future career. Opportunities in the industry could include civil engineering, technical surveyor, architect, building technician, building control officer, town planning assistant and geospatial technician, along with many more.</p>

<p>5. <strong>Financially beneficial!</strong> Some of the careers listed above have great starting salaries, with the opportunity to progress and gain more qualifications while you work, for example a <a href="https://www.ucw.ac.uk/subject/engineering-and-construction/">degree with UCW</a>. The more skilled you become in your chosen sector, the more you will be financially rewarded! Construction Site Managers can earn, on average, £47,500!</p>

<p>Over <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/why-choose-us/our-work-employers">2,500 employers</a> who work with Weston College are looking to attract their future workforce and give our learners great opportunities to begin their careers. Work placements are often a great way to begin your career, so by studying courses with Weston College and undertaking work experience, we hope to make the process of securing a job smoother and easier!</p>

<p>I am Kacey Allen, the Office Manager and PA to the director of Bespoke Building and Carpentry. We do anything from renovations and conversions to new builds, using the latest cutting-edge technology, tools and products.</p>

<p>Due to the pandemic, cost increases have created challenges for us, as well as the availability of materials decreasing, creating a huge issue in the construction industry, leading to delays in jobs and price changes to both us and clients. Alongside this, there was a shortage of skilled workers generally, meaning not enough carpenters and groundworkers for us. As we have two newbuilds currently underway in Weston and Wedmore, we definitely needed to increase the support in our workload.</p>

<p>With the help of Weston College and the <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/ConstructingLivesTogether">Constructing Lives Together</a> programme, we were able to take on some eager-to-learn labourers and give Bespoke the support we needed with the general labouring jobs in the team, to help produce top quality services and products, particularly in the newbuilds currently being worked on. Each of the workers had completed training in Health and Safety, Construction Industry Training Board, and Construction Skills Certification Scheme, as well as gaining re-employment skills – which has been really beneficial to us!</p>

<p>Over the next few months we will be engaging with Constructing Lives Together again to continue to build our team and hopefully fill the shortage of skilled workers and reduce the delay in jobs we were struggling with before.</p>

<p>We would definitely recommend this programme to other construction firms who are looking to recruit newly trained workers, as you can ensure they will be willing to learn and looking for experience on the job. Furthermore, this programme provides an effective process of finding if the individual is suitable and a good match to the company before making your final decision.</p>

<p>We are excited to see what the future holds for both Constructing Lives Together and Bespoke Building and Carpentry, and look forward to taking on new skilled workers.</p>

<p><em>Kacey Allen, Bespoke Building and Carpentry.</em></p>

<p><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/ConstructingLivesTogether">You can find out more about Constructing Lives Together by clicking here.</a></p>