At Aptus, we’ve earned an award-winning reputation for our commitment to training and developing our workforce. We believe this time and investment is well spent as it enables us to create and support the development of careers in a wide range of operational, administrative and technical roles.
In 2022, to assist in meeting the skills demands of our growing organisation, we offered colleagues the exciting chance to apply for one of four roles as a Multi-Utility Trainee Design Engineer.
The training focuses on their development and mentoring in water, electric and gas design, and includes all the skills and competencies necessary for them to become a fully qualified multi-utility design engineer.
Once the training period has been successfully completed, they will be able to manage multiple design projects, ensuring high quality network designs and projects are completed accurately, delivered on time and within budget. The multi-skilled approach will further help to streamline processes, enhancing the professional image and reputation of the company in the marketplace.
Our invitation for applications generated lots of interest enabling us to fill all positions internally, and by autumn our colleagues had started training. We caught up with trainees Alfie Evans and Niamh Ritchie, to find out how they are getting on.
Alfie: I was working as a contracts coordinator at head office and my job brought me regularly into contact with the design team, so I had a bit of an insight into what they do on a daily basis. I could see myself in the role and it offered a great route for career progression within the company – it was too good an opportunity to miss so I applied!
Niamh: I already had an engineering qualification and some experience in computer-aided design (CAD) when I joined Aptus in 2019 as a CAD trainee. When the multi-utility role came up the training felt like it would be a good fit and would allow me to develop my skills and broaden my career options.
Alfie: I initially spent three months working in computer-aided design (CAD). This helped me learn more about the process and gain a fundamental understanding of what goes into producing designs. Moving onto water tenders, I spent a period of several months learning about the network design requirements and producing outline designs which support the estimation and tendering team in producing quotes.
Niamh: I’m working on designs for all three utilities and have authorisation to sign off water designs. At this stage all our work is still checked by the qualified engineers before being sent for approval by the relevant incumbents.
Alfie: The processes can be lengthy and involved with frequent redesigns and alterations made according to developers’ changing requirements, for example where more plots have been added, or removed.
Niamh: There’s a lot of responsibility in this role and working on three designs is more challenging. Every site is different so no two designs will be the same. Some designs can date back years so you have to carry out a detailed investigation of the site and previous revisions to establish where the job is up to and so you don’t miss any information.
You have to be organised to carry out this role, and make sure your timekeeping is good as we have deadlines to meet on each design.
Alfie: I work on designs for residential, commercial and industrial sites nationwide and learning about the regional variations between water companies and how they operate has been interesting. I’m looking forward to moving into the next phase working on water design approvals, which involves sending formal designs to the different incumbents, for their approval for construction.
I enjoy being challenged and learning about the small details that can make a big difference to designs. I’m looking forward to developing my competency in all areas of multi-utility design and gaining more understanding about the processes involved.
I’ve found training together as a group has been especially helpful as we have been able to support each other with our different strengths.
Niamh: I enjoy working with my fellow trainees – we help each other out! I also find the supervision and support from the wider design team valuable. I want to learn as much information as I can to help me work to the best of my abilities. I’m particularly looking forward to visiting site more often and seeing how designs are put into action, as it will be beneficial to see the process from start to finish.
