17 Aug MiCiM Summer Placements

This year was the first year MiCiM have offered summer placements, we have been fortunate enough to offer two placements to Josh Purewal and Kiara Rossi.

Both students joined MiCiM at the beginning of July on an 8-week placement, Josh is studying Quantity Surveying at Reading University and Kiara is studying General Engineering at Durham University. They have been exposed to multiple projects during their time with us to get a better understanding and idea of the scale and differences projects face.

We asked them both a few questions about their experience with MiCiM:

What attracted you to applying for an internship with MiCiM?

Josh -MiCiM was attractive for me as it was a company that was rapidly expanding and in a growing industry too. By doing an internship with a large multinational company, I feel like it would be difficult to explore and delve into what they do, but this really has not been the case with MiCiM and it is great to see and experience so many different aspects of the business.

Kiara – I was attracted to MiCiM due to the rapid development and growth of the company. I thought it would give a slightly different perspective of where my engineering degree could potentially lead and the range of experience and knowledge from the team was extremely impressive. I thought working in a relatively ‘smaller’ company, especially compared to some of the other companies I was considering applying for, would allow the ability to gain a greater understanding of the business and projects as a whole, rather than honing in on a specific area. From starting my internship, I have also discovered that this allows more personal relationship with other employees and has allowed more flexibility in the work I have carried out, as MiCiM have been very encouraging for me to work on areas that I find more interesting or want to explore further.

What are you studying, and do you think the internship will help with your learning?

Josh – Quantity Surveying- the past few weeks have truly been the greatest educational experience and it may seem like a cliché but I really do feel like I have learnt more in these past couple of weeks than I have in the last two years of University (and I have learnt a lot there I promise!)

Kiara – I am currently studying general engineering and by the end of summer I need to decide my speciality. I am deciding between mechanical and civil engineering and I hope this internship will help open my eyes as to potential career opportunities following on from either degree option. By spending time with the various departments at the head office and especially by visiting two of the current project sites, I hope it will give me a more in depth understanding of the construction industry and the interaction between MiCiM and their clients.

What have you gained from your internship?

Josh – I have gained some real-world experience into quantity surveying and especially the growing sector that MiCiM work in. It has been an excellent time for networking in the industry and knowing contacts for the future, which can prove really useful too. It has given me a great basis to go back to University for my final year and apply what I have learnt too, especially regarding quantification and contracts. I also hope to keep contact with the friends and relationships I have made at MiCiM and come back to this great company in the future.

Kiara – I have used my time with MiCiM to learn and absorb as much as I can from the wealth of experience and knowledge from the employees at MiCiM. I have developed key transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, time-management and problem solving, which I hope to apply to the rest of my degree and then work beyond. I was also really excited to gain exposure of working on a construction site and understanding the challenges faced, both internally but also when dealing with clients or other sub-contractors.

Did you feel supported during your time with MiCiM?

Josh – I have been supported more than I could ever have hoped. Everyone has been open and honest and I feel very fortunate that people have taken time out of their busy days to sit down with me and make sure I am happy; any questions that I have are answered in an understandable way. Everyone from the quantity surveyors up to the directors have been so friendly and informative. Having spent the majority of my time at the Oxford Instruments project in Bristol, I could not speak more highly of the people here. Scott Stroud, Sam Jackson, Guy Trivette, Craig Herbert, Harry Rutter and Andy Hopgood have especially been so welcoming, helpful and informative- I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.

Kiara – Throughout my time so far at MiCiM I have felt supported by all employees I have worked with, particularly in my first week, I was shown key contacts and made to feel very welcome and able to ask any questions I may have. When on site, the project team were keen to show be around the site and more than happy to answer any questions I had.

Did you feel you were given a good opportunity during you time with MiCiM?

Josh – I have been involved with so much and so quickly too. I have been taken aback by how involved the last couple of weeks have been, I am truly thankful for the opportunity- I have been given a lot of responsibility and that really is the best learning experience.

Kiara – Throughout my time so far at MiCiM, I have been given great exposure to work on site and in-depth tours about the different systems comprising a data centre, by different team members. I have not yet been given any tasks to complete myself or specific personal responsibilities, although this may be more relevant in the Bristol project which I am soon to become a part of.

Would there have been anything you would have liked to have done differently / been given an opportunity to be involved with?

Josh – I have been very involved so far and the opportunity to have stayed in Bristol has been excellent- being on site rather than in the office, has made the internship so far, extremely enjoyable and rewarding at the same time.

Kiara – I have really enjoyed my time so far at MiCiM and have loved the opportunity to get an insight of different parts of the company. The only improvement I could suggest would be to be given more tasks to complete on my own.

We really appreciate all the hard work and effort the students have put into their placements and appreciate their honesty about their experience with MiCiM and look forward to seeing how their careers flourish after graduation. We will open our recruitment channels for summer 2023 placements at the start of next year.