Completing an Apprenticeship at Bouygues Energies & Services

We were very proud to recently be recognised as members of The 5% Club; an initiative which encourages organisations to ensure at least 5% of their workforce are in 'earn and learn' positions like Apprenticeships and Graduate Schemes. These positions are not only a brilliant way of bringing young people into the workplace, but they also aim to offset the UK's growing STEM skills shortage.

Bouygues Energies & Services work across a wide range of sectors in the UK, but much of what we do is rooted in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills. We are therefore very conscious of our responsibility to tackle this skills gap and believe that offering opportunities like apprenticeships is a brilliant way of doing so. As well as STEM-specific roles, we are proud to offer Apprenticeships in business support services, because we know that the growth of our business requires a variety of skills. 

Meet our apprentices:

Angelita is an HR Administrator in our Manchester office, completing a Level 2 Business Administration Apprenticeship:

"The benefit of an apprenticeship is that you gain a qualification whilst you work and once you've completed it, your salary reflects the qualification you've earned. From there, there's tons of room to develop and progress your career further. Lots of successful people at BYES, started as apprentices!

 

I was recommended BYES by The Growth Company; they told me that BYES were keen to build young people's careers and that made me feel like my apprenticeship would be well supported. Now I've experienced BYES for myself, I think the culture is definitely moving in a good direction; there's been more of an emphasis on wellbeing lately and everyone in our office gets along - I always look forward to the social events!

 

One of my personal highlights here has been being involved with planning a team building event. It was a great experience to bond with colleagues I hadn't had the chance to speak to before.

 

For those thinking of starting an apprenticeship; it can be a challenge to juggle studying and work as you have to be really self-motivated, but the end result is really rewarding!"

 

Zoe is a Trainee Engineer, studying a BTEC Level 3 in Construction in the Built Environment:

"I chose the apprenticeship route as it gives me a chance to see the responsibilities and roles I could be undertaking in the future. University was never somewhere I could see myself, so an apprenticeship seemed a good way of learning what I'd need to succeed. During an apprenticeship you are able to work alongside academic learning. You consolidate what you've learned with day-to-day work. This makes it easier to understand what is being taught.

 

When I came for my interview at BYES I knew this was where I wanted to work. There was a friendly atmosphere and I felt this would be a good place to grow and develop my skills. I’d also researched BYES and found a YouTube video on getting more women to be engineers; I could see that it would be a good place to come, as construction is typically a male-dominated industry. Working at BYES has been good. The friendly atmosphere allows you to be yourself. There is a good support system and it feels like the company want to assist in making you the best you can be.

 

Although I’ve only been here a short time, a highlight has been attending to the Apprentice Forum at our London office. I got to meet a lot of other apprentices within the business which gave me a good insight into the company as a whole.

 

My advice to those considering their next steps; do an apprenticeship! The majority of apprenticeships run for 1-2 years, which is the same time you’d spend at college, but you get to work while you learn instead. You understand what the working environment is like and can adapt much easier. You also get a qualification and learn alongside people who have years of experience in the field you want to go into. I've also found it more enjoyable, as you get to work on live jobs rather than ones that have just been created for an assignment."