Construction students have gained invaluable work experience after being linked with a multinational infrastructure group.
Over a 10-week placement, 8 Doncaster College Construction students were given the opportunity to work with Balfour Beatty through live weekly sessions that gave students insight into all areas of the construction sector, and the key elements of a business within construction. The placements not only gave the students key knowledge for their future careers, but also proved to be so in-depth that Balfour Beatty have agreed to provide students with university and job references from attending the placement.
The partnership between Doncaster College and Balfour Beatty began last year when talks were in place to get students out onto construction sites. Despite the setback caused by Covid-19 and lockdown restrictions, staff both at the College and Balfour Beatty have pulled together to provide this focused 10-week programme.
The programme covered a different department each week, from Commercial, to Operational, to Human Resources, and even Social Media. Students were given practical tasks from the various departments and had to work together to figure out solutions. These tasks included Health and Safety tasks in which students were given a destination and had to plan a route for materials to travel, also a task in which students were given measurements of a road to then calculate how much the project would cost in total, as well as an estimate of how long the project would take.
Construction lecturer Nadine commented “The placement was helpful in the fact that it gave the students an insight into the different roles within construction and what happens in the day to day running of a site/project. The students worked hard and despite the restrictions they all enjoyed the placement; even going so far as having meetings outside of class to produce the best work they could.” This was a chance for students to consider all elements within business and allow them to make informed decisions as to what career path they would like to pursue in the future.
This virtual placement provided and invaluable opportunity for students, and there have been discussions between Doncaster College and Balfour Beatty to provide future students with the chance to take part in these placements physically on site.
