We have so many success stories to share at Project Centre, but the ones we’re most proud of revolve around our graduates’ career progressions. Our scheme sees freshly graduated individuals join our company and work through a series of rotations across our multi-discipline teams. This allows young professionals to receive the opportunities and the support they need to grow into well-equipped professionals, as well as learning more about our company.
Our scheme provides graduates with mentoring support, ongoing training, and rotation opportunities. Our teams invest real time and effort into developing our graduates. That’s why hearing stories of them progressing to senior positions within the company makes us so proud.
From graduates to…
We caught up with our Senior Lighting Design Engineer, Jade Edwards Samuels, our Senior Engineer Gregory Beckford, and our Senior Traffic Modeller Jessica Cecchinelli.
We wanted to learn more about their experience coming out of the academic world, starting at Project Centre and working through the ranks.
Jade joined Project Centre in 2016 under the graduate programme. “I initially joined the highways team before transferring to the lighting team in 2019. Since joining the lighting team, I feel like I’ve strongly developed my knowledge. As a recent graduate, I always try to be there for junior members of staff and pass on my knowledge.”
Gregory was recently promoted to Senior Engineer for Highways. “Right after university, I started working as a Graduate Engineer at Project Centre. I’m really proud of the opportunities to grow that I’ve had. I always try to provide a different perspective on projects and keep an eye for detail”.
Jess joined Project Centre as a graduate engineer six years ago. “I graduated with a civil engineering degree in Italy. But after completing it, I shortly realised that transport engineering is what I really wanted to do. Transport engineering is all about improving our community and constantly changing the world with solutions that affect everyone’s lives. This strongly motivated me in pursuing a transportation engineering career. As a traffic engineer, I have the opportunity to give my contribute to providing a safer transportation system.”
Q. What did you enjoy the most about our graduate scheme and what did you find helpful during your progression?
Jade: I was pleased to have had so many different learning opportunities, this allowed me to experience a variety of departments at Project Centre. I’ve always been keen to learn new things and understand more of every discipline. Each time I moved up a level I used these skills and I felt ready and confident to progress to the next step. I don’t think it would have happened without the learning opportunity and support that the graduate scheme provided me with.
Gregory: I enjoyed the chance to experience different disciplines. Every discipline had something I learned from, and that still rounds my industry knowledge to this day. The rotation opportunity also allowed me to connect with people. I was able to forge friendships across the company. It also gave me the chance to learn how working life operates, experiencing it with a 360 perspective.
Jess: During the graduate programme at Project Centre, I had the opportunity to expand on my university studies and benefit from the insight and support of experienced engineers who have worked on innovative and interesting projects. I’ve gained vast knowledge in a range of engineering areas associated to traffic engineering and I’ve actively contributed to the delivery of a number of schemes. The rotation opportunity was essential to equip me with the range of skills and experience I needed to identify what area to pursue.
Q. Did you feel supported by the management?
Gregory: Yes, definitely. At all stages, I’ve always felt like those senior to me have guided and supported me. They were amazing at spotting my strengths and weaknesses. They pointed me in the right direction for specific training and qualifications, identifying how I might develop the necessary skills to reach the next step.
Jess: During the graduate programme and afterwards, my managers supported me with my technical development, as well as with my presentation skills and project management training. I have been provided with mentoring opportunities and extensive on-the-job training from my line managers.
Q: What development opportunities were you offered coming out of the graduate scheme? And what was the biggest challenge in the transition?
Jade: After completing the graduate scheme, I’ve had an overall review with my line manager and I got offered a full-time position at Project Centre. I guess this is what every graduate hopes for, a smooth transition into a permanent position. I remember the “review day” was nerve-wracking but looking back at it, my manager provided feedback throughout the whole graduate scheme and likely the outcome wasn’t too surprising.
By all means, the step from Graduate Engineer to Lighting Engineer and then Senior Lighting Engineer wasn’t easy. But I received continuous training from my team and the opportunity to keep developing my skills. I also joined the Institute of Professional Lighting as an Affiliate, which grants access to workshops and industry news.
I feel like the biggest challenge, coming out of the graduate programme, was having the responsibility to teach and mentor others. I’ve had so many good engineers that I learned from over the graduate programme and I hope that I can be as good a mentor to others as they were to me. Also, apart from improving my technical knowledge and expertise, the biggest challenge has been building project management skills, especially in terms of time and budget.
Q. Can you share a piece of advise for our new starters?
Jade: If you are given the opportunity to do a rotation and see what other teams do within the company and industry, it is well worth taking it up. My rotation gave me the insight and appreciation of different disciplines which helps me when I am designing till this day. My advice would be to work hard, learn as much as you can from the experience of others and don’t forget to enjoy what you do.
Jess: My suggestion to new graduates is to be proactive, seek feedback and do not be afraid to ask questions. Doing so is vital to achieve a successful career and work environment. Secondly, do not be afraid to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. And as professional, you will continue to improve and learn from them.
We currently have a few opportunities for graduates to join our team. Check them out today.
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