Becoming seriously good in your chosen profession is not so different. Have a plan, gain an education, master the fundamentals, perfect skills and experience. Benefits will come to those who apply themselves.

Seems a straightforward formula for success? Don’t overlook the need for strong personal commitment. And, importantly, the benefits of an employer that’s committed to long-term people investment.

A commitment to learn

T&G always prefers growing local talent rather than chasing after it. It’s one reason for being an Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE) Approved Employer and running its prestigious in-house training scheme.

It takes time to become a first-class engineer. Start with a recognised degree course. Become a trainee engineer in a company such as T&G. Develop relevant project experience, then demonstrate recognisable project leadership.

Your ultimate goal is achieving chartered engineer status through demonstrating the required competencies.

It will be a 10-year long haul on your own. But work for an approved and committed ICE registered company like T&G and you can cut this time by more than half.

Training on ICE

We’ve three trainee engineers presently working towards becoming chartered civil engineers – two in Jersey and one in Guernsey. They’re on the ICE initial professional development (IPD) stage, covering a range of subjects including management and leadership, commercial ability and interpersonal skills.

My role as an ICE recognised supervising civil engineer is overseeing these learning and development activities. Or appointing mentors to supervise in my absence – such as for our trainee in Guernsey.

As a T&G director, I also arrange workplace opportunities for our ICE trainees to put learning into practice. We are fortunately in perfect locations to fulfil this key development requirement. The institute acknowledges the variety of projects taking place here is far wider than in most of the UK. And all within a short distance of the office.

With the right attitude and our support, T&G trainees can complete their civil engineering IPD stage in three years. And then lead the projects needed to achieve chartered status one to two years later.

We know this is a winning formula. Which means beyond the three already on the programme, we would like to find other potential trainees looking for a similar opportunity.

Barriers to success

T&G presently have a Graduate Engineer vacancy in our Jersey office. The opportunity for someone completing their engineering degree is to join and swiftly work towards chartered status through our ICE Approved Employer programme. The challenge is lowering the barriers to entry.

We encourage applications from local students. But in reality, many of these are looking for experience further afield after finishing university. So we equally welcome applications from suitable candidates looking for a move to the islands – not just for the Graduate Engineer vacancy but also for a Senior Engineer position open at the moment.

But here the barriers come up – and it’s beyond our powers to bring them down.

Most candidates are put off by the high cost of living here. We pay well, but local construction industry wage levels make it difficult for anyone thinking of moving to the islands.

Then licensing for non-residential staff is always a challenge. . . for both companies and employees. It’s just not made easy.

So our appeal is for some support from government. Bring down or at least lower the barriers to external recruitment – for the short-term at least. And let us build the long-term skillset needed for the islands’ future benefit.

We’d love to discuss further with anyone interested in finding out more. Contact Johnny Moffett at [email protected] or +44 (0)1534 867070.