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At 18, India Jean-Jacques has already made an impressive start to her civil engineering career, and she\u00a0 now explains her path into the ‘boundless’ sector and debunks some common misconceptions.<\/h3>\nAt 18, India Jean-Jacques has already made an impressive start to her civil engineering career, and she\u00a0 now explains her path into the ‘boundless’ sector and debunks some common misconceptions.<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
India Jean-Jacques, for The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), writes:<\/p>\n
An apprenticeship isn\u2019t always the most obvious choice for some. It certainly wasn\u2019t the obvious route for me, given that if it weren\u2019t for a fated Google search, I would never have even known about them. Even less obvious was my choice to leave full-time education at the age of 16 upon the completion of my GCSEs.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult at the age of 15\/16, or even later on in life, to find out what the right career path for you is, but having taken a keen interest in the world around me, mathematics and science, it seemed like destiny when I stumbled upon civil engineering apprenticeship vacancies.<\/p>\n
Normally the discourse around apprenticeships centres around degree apprenticeships (Level 6 and 7), but I\u2019d like to offer a slightly different perspective. There are apprenticeships of all levels \u2013 from Level 2 (GCSE equivalent) to Level 4\/5 (foundation degree equivalent) and Level 7 (master\u2019s degree equivalent). The apprenticeship I completed was a Level 3 (equivalent to A Levels). It provided the opportunity to either progress into full-time employment, attend university full-time, or progress onto a degree apprenticeship.<\/p>\n
In a job market where experience is becoming increasingly sought after (even when traditional university students are achieving firsts), apprenticeships are the new craze. You can gain that experience, learn and earn a competitive wage in many cases.<\/p>\n
Throughout the two years I spent working towards my college qualification, I was also working towards a Level 3 NVQ and Engineering Technician accreditation with the ICE and I have recently, much to my delight, found out that I have indeed achieved that status. Opportunities like these – to build up a portfolio of experience and accreditations \u2013 can vastly increase employability.<\/p>\n
Contrary to popular sentiments, apprenticeships are by no means the \u201ceasy route\u201d.<\/p>\n
From first-hand experience, they require a lot of hard work and time management skills. This is, of course, rewarding and gratifying when you yield the results, however. Determination is key. The purpose this gave me helped structure my work and gave me a sense of direction when I had meetings with my line manager to discuss my professional development.<\/p>\n