Berkeley East Thames have a number of key home and neighbourhood building projects across London; these include projects in Marine Wharf, Kidbrooke Village, Royal Arsenal and Southall Waterside.
A frequent visitor to the College, Alice dropped by to talk to students from a number of trade areas including carpentry and joinery, bricklaying, plumbing and electrical installations.
There are different routes into the construction industry and these can include general labourers, work experience, graduates and apprentices. Progression within the industry from an apprentice to a Project Manager can take anything between 10-15 years but if you work hard, show initiative, keep training and collecting industry qualifications, you can eventually be earning £60k to £100k
Alice gave her best advice to the students. She said: “A good attitude is everything. Building and construction is a very demanding occupation but is also very rewarding. You will need to be equipped with all the necessary site requirements such as health and safety, housekeeping, a good punctuality and attendance record and you absolutely have to be reliable and trustworthy. Employers such as Berkeley and most others look for passion, initiative and competence in their workforce. They also expect impeccable behaviour and for you to act as ambassadors for the company."
Annie Oakes is a 16-year-old, Level 1 Plumbing student from Bromley and attended the lecture. She said: “Listening to Alice really inspired me and made me realise I’d chosen a good trade to learn. I got a lot out of her presentation and it made me aware of everything I need to do to progress and climb the ladder. This will, of course, mean applying to the firm to take part in one of their work experience projects. I feel very positive right now.”
Jhoan Guallichico, 20, from Lewisham is studying for his Level 2 Carpentry qualifications this year and is also interested in contacting Berkeley Group soon to find out more about apprenticeship opportunities with their contractors. He said: “It was a fantastic presentation today and very eye-opening. She really gave us some amazing insight to working on-site and I’d love to be a part of the amazing developments they are working on from east to west London."
If you think you have what it takes to become a construction or building trade professional and would like to build a successful career in the construction and built environment industries, we’d like to hear from you. We have a great range of courses to get you started. Come along to one of our open events.
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