CIOB Apprentice of the Month: Oshia Rahmani

What was your favourite project to work on over the course of your apprenticeship?

During my third placement I was working for Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, based on site at Surrey Quays station. It was my first time on site, and I was really lucky to be working with a female graduate site engineer.

Over the course of four months, she trained me how to use a total station to carry out surveys. That’s something you learn on site, not when you’re studying civil engineering at university. 

There was lots of teamwork involved and I had the opportunity to help two trainees. It was nice to have that experience of someone teaching me something and then being able to pass it on. It was really enjoyable, being very hands-on practical experience – I was hardly in the office.

One piece of advice you’d give to someone enrolling onto a construction apprenticeship?

Be open to learn and don’t have tunnel vision on just one thing to go after. At the start of my apprenticeship, I was set on architecture and then, having experienced engineering, site management etc, my ideas of what I wanted to do shifted. 

Ask questions: if you need help or if you’re unsure, have the courage to speak up. I was amazed at how much you can learn just from talking to people,

What was your biggest challenge during your apprenticeship?

Juggling the week, coming to the office, going on to site and then one day of study.

You have a lot of college work to complete and you’ve got deadlines to meet and you’re also working. I think that that might be a challenge to some people.

But, as time goes on, you learn how to prioritise your tasks and how to become better with the time. Throughout my whole apprenticeship I’ve improved my time management.