Meet Cameron - An insight on starting his career and trialing new equipment

This week we caught up with Graduate Engineer, Cameron Swan, who shares with us details about his experience on our graduate programme and how it has helped to kick start his career. Cameron tells us about the valuable learning opportunities and practical experience he has gained working on The Residence and Potato Wharf projects.

My day-to-day responsibilities

My day-to-day responsibilities include handling the setting out on site and looking after the quality assurance for the project I am working on. This involves:

- Testing engineering equipment for calibration

- Collecting as-built surveys of finished works on site

- Taking care of engineering document control

Deciding on a career in construction

I decided on a career in construction later in my school life. Working on a live construction project appealed to me, and engineering was a career route that would allow me to do this. I went on to earn a BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering at Edinburgh Napier University.

What I enjoy most about my role

I enjoy learning new skills from those who are mentoring me, and understanding the importance of the everyday tasks that I am required to carry out. I feel that it is a good challenge and pushes me to improve on my skills. Although it’s not always what I anticipated when I was studying at university, I am delighted to be doing the job I do now.

My favourite project and why

I recently began working on Potato Wharf in Manchester, after I completed my time at The Residence.

To work on constructing the first fully pre-cast building for Careys in the north region – and using the M-Tech jump form system for the first time in this region – made this project one to remember.

Overcoming challenges

I had no previous experience using any of the engineering equipment that we use on site. So, I was keen to learn quickly so that I could assist my engineering team. I had to work very hard and consistently use the equipment in order to get used to it.

Support from my mentor

When I first joined Careys, Paul Bennett, a section engineer from the team, was assigned to mentor me. He definitely aided my developed the most. He was always patient with me, even when I was at times impatient about not being able to understand certain skills straight away. I thank Paul very much for helping me out as much as he has. In addition, an honourable mention to Project Engineer, Daniel Ronaldson – if not for him, I’d still not know how to set up a rotating laser properly.

Describing the culture at Careys in one word

Team – at Careys, we pride ourselves on being a team in any situation. I have found great comfort and further confidence due to being part of a team that is supportive of my development.