A lifelong student placement for Mildren?

Every year, Mildren Construction welcome work placements from Plymouth University to gain valuable experience with the company.

Rhiannon Betts is the current student who would normally be taking over from her predecessor, Ryan George.  However, this year Ryan has so enjoyed his experience with Mildren, that he’s continued working for them, even though he’s now continuing his studies back at University.

Ryan commenced his placement in June of 2017 and so far has been working with them for 20 months.  He said: “Mildren are the best size company in my opinion; small enough to be personal and friendly, but big enough to get large jobs.”

During his time with Mildren, Ryan has been involved in various tasks, starting with working as a setting out engineer which included working with the gang on the ground, showing them how the job is to be constructed, working to designs and specifications and liaising with the client and clerk of works. As he moved along to different jobs, he has taken on more responsibility, managing plant labour & materials, managing areas of work and schedules.

Ryan added: “I’ve gained such valuable experience; first from Rob Hughes, an engineer I spent my first 8 months with who he taught me about the total station and the basics of setting out.  I then went on to work with Site Manager, Mark Hill who was my site manager on two projects.  He taught me about planning and running jobs. We worked on a £8M bypass road and a £6M town centre development and Mark helped me to hone my communication skills with operatives and provided advice for best time management practises and how to schedule and plan labour, plant & materials.

“Contracts Manager, Paul Hartley taught me about the commercial aspect of construction. Dealing with the client, contracts and planning works. I worked alongside Paul to create a closing program for the first project on which I worked, which involved scheduling the remain works to anticipate labour and plant requirements.

“I have experienced amazing opportunities with Mildren and am truly grateful to the whole team for allowing me to gain such hands on experience and over the course of my placement and continuing work have built on my pre-existing management and engineering skills.”

Ryan recommenced his studies in September 2018 but continues his work experience on a project in Tiverton on a part time basis, commuting from Plymouth.

As for the future, Ryan said: “I intend to return to Mildren after completing my MEng at university.  I have made some great friends and I enjoy working on highways, so its something I’d really like to do in the future.”

Managing Directory, Simon French said: “Here at Mildren we believe in investing in our future, whether that’s when we are carrying out our projects, or nurturing our staff.

“Ryan has been a great addition to the team and he’s proved how passionate he is with his career path by continuing to work while also completing his studies at Plymouth.”