Promoting opportunities for careers in construction

Through our GATEway programme we support graduate, apprenticeship and training opportunities across our business, as well as paid work experience placements for people from all backgrounds. In the first three months of 2023, our team have already supported 184 hours of work placements for five individuals including secondary school students, members of the Armed Forces community and those not in education, employment or training (NEETs).

One young person who has benefited from an extended work experience placement is 16-year-old Kane who has been working with the team on one of our projects for four weeks, shadowing the site team, groundworks team and our joiners to get a flavour of the different types of careers in construction.

Kane said: “I’ve been searching for jobs and applying for things, but I’ve not heard anything back. Sewell has given me the opportunity to do this work experience and build my skills for the future. I’ve really enjoyed my experience and the team have helped me by building my CV, providing training, setting up a bank account and looking for apprenticeships that I can apply for.”

To ensure their time with us is as meaningful as possible, our work experience programme includes various operational and commercial tasks, an introduction to the team, business, and next steps such as qualification routes to help people secure employment in the future.

During Kane’s time on site, Harry, Site Manager, and Bethany, Community Investment Champion, have helped Kane with various tasks to help set him up for the future. They have:

• Supported Kane in setting up his own bank account to enable him to get paid
• Helped Kane with his CV, showing what should be included in one and the correct formats
• Provided mock interviews – before the work placement we invited Kane onto site for an informal ‘coffee meet’ but asked real-life interview questions to give him practice for the future
• Provided training courses that have resulted in certificates that can be used on Kane’s CV
• Signed Kane onto the National Apprenticeships Government portal, and helped him apply for two apprenticeships

We will continue to catch-up with Kane and support with any employability skills/support he requires to enable him to secure an apprenticeship in the future.