Currently, a typical day involves reviewing client comments and feedback regarding project design and project works, and communicating directly with the client and their representatives to find a solution/answer to the question or query posed. This also involves adapting project commissioning documentation, project O&M manuals, and amending project procedures and specifications to correspond with As-Built requirements of the project.
I have learned and developed as an engineer to communicate with clients, their representatives and to report to senior management on a daily basis. I have developed my computer literacy in both Microsoft Office, CMPic cable software, Windchill 3D Visualisation, AutoCAD, AmTech, and DIALux lighting design software. These have been mainly project specific, however, this has allowed me to grasp and develop the basics of each piece of software and apply this when required.
I communicate with several levels of management on a daily basis, ranging from Senior Engineers, to Regional Directors. This involves reporting, face to face meetings, and assisting with client meetings and tendering activities.
I enjoy working within a team environment, but also enjoy working as an individual. I feel that I am approachable and easy to talk to when my co-workers require my assistance and I actively share knowledge and experiences whenever they ask or require help. I will openly seek assistance from my senior colleagues when required and feel that I am a go
ProsPotential diversity or types of project
ConsNo Progression within department or within projects, Feeling of being undervalued
Fast paced office environment with high profile contracts
I currently schedule a team of engineers covering the North of England including Ireland. Working within a reactive and fast paced office environment I ensure that engineers are scheduled work to meet target SLA’s. Using effective time management and prioritization, I am able to schedule workloads in accordance with varied SLA’s, including re-arranging the engineers PDA/Diary, which can be quite difficult dependant on reasons for reschedule. This includes both reactive based works and also preventative planned maintenance. I also liaise daily with sub contractors if a job cannot be completed by our own engineers, whilst also chasing for updates and any recommendations. This contact is via telephone, fax and email to which a great relationship and rapport is held with each and every client, engineer, manager, supervisor and sub contractor, whilst working as part of a very busy team in a new and demanding department. This excellent relationship ensures that I find this part of the job most enojoyable, as well as, undertaking additional responsibilities to that above my current role which includes management of 2 sub-contractors for the nationwide coverage, the management of 3 mailboxes and also motivation and teambuilding for the team.
I ensure the weekly rota is displayed in a prominent view and that all Out Of Ours Rotas are also displayed prominently. This additional responsibility has enabled me to become one of two succession planners within the business, which has include
Prosjob satisfaction, and excellent team rapport.
Conslack of free parking, lack of promotional opportunities/recognition
Helpful and relaxed workplace with some opportunities for personal development but less opportunities for advancement.
Since I started here there has been a busy and vibrant environment in which to learn and work. My day mostly consists of producing drawings on Microstation along with the design reports, risk assessments, electrical calculations for a wide number or projects. I have learned much about the rail industry, not only the electrical aspects but also about the mechanical and civil aspects of Overhead Line Equipment (OLE), the safety procedures involved when working on the railway, and the processes involved in the design of OLE and other railway systems. The management has underwent major changes since I started here. When I began working here they seemed determined to further my development and provide me with opportunities to obtain qualifications and experience. Since then, less time has been devoted to these pursuits and more time seemingly devoted to closing out the remaining workload. The culture here has been fantastic, I have made a lot of friends and have never been short of help when needed. A lot of social events have been organised between the staff and by the company themselves when a day out at the Grand National races was organised. The hardest part of the job has been the lack or workload at times, there have been times when I have not had much to do at all, which I feel is detrimental to my development. The most enjoyable part of my job has been the work that I have been doing. I have been given responsibilities that were new to me and I feel that this has immensely
ProsClose to home, good working atmosphere, responsibilities, changing workload.
Firstly I'm not going to write a tonne of negative stuff about Balfour Beatty. They are of course a HUGE company with some many divisions and sub-divisions. I was delighted when I received my offer from Balfour, I had the idea I wanted to work for a massive company and get involved in some amazing projects.
Unfortunately my experience wasn't at all what I was expecting and I found the work culture there to be a bit toxic at times, and felt my line manager had little respect for staff and despite being obviously good at his job had poor team management skills. From day 1 it was like being in school, everyone in silence grinding away. Of course it is a place of work but for me work doesn't have to be like this all the time, try and create a better atmosphere to work in than some 90s style office where no one talks. The work/life balance was horrible. Even coming into work early on a Friday to leave a bit before 5 (to travel back home for the weekend) was not an option. I left 30 minutes early one Friday (despite coming in 1hr 15 early) and it was an issue for my line manager, who was basically just too controlling. I was hired into an assistant role but ended up taking a lot more responsibility, which is fine but I didn't receive any thanks or help from management. A colleague took some time off after his Dad had passed away. He was given no slack with our manager who basically came down on him like a ton of bricks at a progress meeting, it was quite frankly tyrannical and
ProsPay/benefit, staff are very good and professional
ConsPoor work/life balance, horrible work culture, management.
A challenging company that is going through a difficult transistion.
On a typical day, depending on my location, once the team had arrived my direct reports would review the following:
Safety performance on the shifts worked and review any inspections that had taken place and try to seek any improvement.
Review the previous days/nights progress relating to planned activities and report on any slippage that might of occurred and put into place a recovery plan. Up-date programmes according on all projects.
Review the next planned works, to check all resource is the correct resource, check all materials are available and all plant is secured and ready.
Balfour Beatty are going through a transition at present and there is a lot of turnover of Management, Commercial, Planning & HSQE staff, in general all seemed competent within their chosen sectors. Due to my military career, I have found that I can get the best motivation from my teams and help develop teamwork and the desire to promote a good working environment.
One of the hardest part of my position is trying to retain staff, the rail industry at times is very demanding and staff are quite willing to move on to easily. Also, managing the client takes a big part in this
The most enjoyable parts of my position are delivering projects and the client accepts all the hard work that is being put in. Another enjoyable part is developing "Teams" getting all the team pulling in the same direction, I very muck like the way I can develop PM's, CM's, Site Managers and Site Agents to progress their ca
ProsFlexible hours, not always 9 -5
ConsVery long hours at time. Not seeing the family during Xmas blockades
After years of cronyism, ridiculously high day rates for contractors, disproportionately large project teams with nobody actually "on the ground" and a couple of good but very overworked and underpaid people propping up entire departments, there has been a huge restructure, and management (perhaps understandably) now like to "rule with an iron fist" and make people feel threatened into thinking that their jobs are on the line so they work harder.
People are scared to approach anyone or ask questions for fear of losing their jobs. Communication is very poor and restructures are constant, nobody knows what is going on and that's the way management like it. Flexible working is frowned upon - one manager for example got a secretary to record the times people arrived into work on a spreadsheet.
Any proper processes (particularly in IT) are non existent but nobody seems to care - management's solution is to just fire people rather than fix problems at the source. Service desk are very stressed out due to poor decisions made by management, handover not being done from legacy IT teams, contracted project teams worrying about getting things done on time rather properly and incompetent vendors. This very hostile environment makes for a very high turnover as talented people leave.
However there are still a couple of decent people left who are committed to turning it around. So if you really want a big challenge it might be the place for you.
ProsStill some decent people left
ConsHostile management, lack of process, very inefficient and no flexible working
A typical day at work for me has been getting the offices polished, hoovering, emptying bins and making there desks tidy ready for my co-workers and manages to start there very busy days. Then going down to clean the work-mens canteen, drying room and all toilets. I would have to say there wasn't an easy part to this job as like the cleaning jobs i have done in the past, Because no sooner than you clean an area from dust and mud, It was back again, being a building site there wasn't much job satisfaction in that aspect. But having said that i was always kept busy, And thats why i loved the my job. And unlike cleaning jobs i have done in the past, I had to sit my cscs course and heath and safety. learn about doing risk assessments on cleaning products and work areas. I also had to sit a on line Royal Bank Of Scotland Manual Handling course. The most enjoyable part of the job was meeting and greeting people, being the first person of contact, even before they made there way to the reception. And collecting the lottery from co-workers and manages twice a week and have that responsibility and trust, (not that we ever won that much)!!!. I would say that the most enjoyable part of my job has been reading my references and seeing how much of a good job i did and finding out what my co-workers and manages thought about me..
Prosgetting free breakfast on fridays, flexible working hours as long as i did my full 30 hour week.
Consto have some experience in a different aspect of cleaning. building up a good reputation for myself.
Never more than a number, tell you what you want to hear and deliver nothing.
I worked here for 3 years. It all started well, I was promised progression, training and good experience. They delivered on none. In every single PDR I scored top marks. As a result I was approached with an offer of a pay rise and promotion. Even though I recieved a promotion letter the company back tracked and said it would be delayed 8 months and would not be back paid. This came after stringing me along for 4 months. turns out they only give out a promotion if you threaten to resign. I don't do threats so I just resigned. Learned from a director later that the group MD had made a decision that no pay rises or promotions would be made in that year across the U.K. Business. Only flight risks would be considered. So the whole code of conduct seamed only to apply to the lower ranking staff. Pretty sure the policy stated "All of our decisions about recruitment, hiring, compensation, development and promotion must be made solely on the basis of ability, skills, experience, behaviour, performance and potential to do the job."
Not sure where group MD blanket bans comes into that?
To top it off I was treated disgustingly when I raised my concerns on there actions and pretty much told to like it or lump it.
In summary they do not practice what they preach. Maybe they would be more successful if they actually did.
If the H.M.R.C had not closed the building i would not consider leaving
I have worked for balfourbeatty workplace, now Cofely workplace for 12 years.
i started as a security officer working behind the reception at archer house, the Inland revenue office in stockport.I also spent 9 months working at the H.M.R.C Trinity bridge office in Manchester.
I was then promoted to Security supervisor at archer house, a position i still hold.
i have worked as part of a team involved in the management of this building.. i have carried out various other duties such as laying carpet tiles, desk raises and many other health and safety taskes that are required in a building this size.
I enjoy all aspects of the job, especially dealing with the many members of the H.M.R.C staff both that worked in the building and that came from all over the country to hold meetings and training courses in our building.
i have had a few trying times with members of the public, but this is to be expected when you work in an enviroment where people are comeing in to an enquiry centre to sort out tax and benefit issues.
i would love to continue in the same type of work enviroment.
i get on well with people and enjoy working with them.
i have always been very flexible towards work.
To date i have always been healthy, i have only been off sick from work 1 week in the 12 years i have worked for balfour beatty/ cofely workplace
I work for the Civils department of Balfour Beatty Rail, which was formerly known as Birse Rail. Since the Birse Rail name was dropped in 2012 and the company fully adopted Balfour Beatty's processes, I feel that management decisions have let the company down. However, my colleagues in the Tendering & Estimating team are all great people to work with, and a day at work is still enjoyable.
A typical day might consist of writing, reviewing or editing responses to questions for part of the quality submission of a tender, compiling and sending tender enquiries to specialist subcontractors, producing bills of quantities, or completing pricing schedules. The role is varied and tailored to my skill-set, which I enjoy. The aspects that I like the most are working on big, challenging tenders as part of a small and dedicated team, seeing them through from start to finish, and hopefully getting the satisfaction of winning a contract. The hardest part is dealing with short timescales imposed by the client.
I have learnt a lot working there, and gained a wide range of experience, including the achievement of a second degree undertaken on day release over five years. I have worked on a wide range of schemes covering all aspects of civil engineering in a railway environment.
Working at BALFOUR BEATTY was a horrible experience. It was not because of the job but the manager in the AP/AR department was horrible. She seem to lack self esteem and very violence. She stayed on the company phone down grading her employees. I overheard her tell someone on the phone one day to stab someone in the neck. This lady would sabotoge work( employees would put something in the system and she would remove it and come back to you to say you did not do it). Do not even think of going to HR because after a few complaints YOU will either end up fired or laid off. She was such a micromanager that her desk was on the floor with the regular employees and she would site behind the employees and would stand up if she literally did not hear anyone typing. It was a nightmare there and she is so unstable. She come to work with blackeyes and blame it on a broom. But we all knew there were problems at home because she was so violent and stayed on the phone with personal problems. The job was not hard at all but she made it very difficult to do your job. And the kicker was that the director of the department covered for all her unprofessional actions. The managers were trained to even walk the breakroom. We could not sit and eat in peace without one of them patrolling the breakroom. I believe that there was a lot of fear for jobs when it came to the director and ap/ar manager, they made sure no one advanced. These ladies were very insecure and you can honestly tell that
If there was any advice I could possibly give anyone considering working here, it would be to RUN. Run FAR FAR away! If you are a decent person with high standards and morals, then this is not the job for you. They pawn training off on other team members and you never get trained the “right” way. Management is horrible! They are not on the same page and it makes the entire team look like incompetent idiots. They talk poorly about each other behind each other’s backs and try to “one up” the other ones. Management will blame you for their issues and wont hesitate to throw you under the bus to make themselves look better. It never happened to me, but I witnessed a manager physically yelling in the face of a co-worker for something another manager told her to do. Perhaps the worst part of this company is their unethical practices. It’s shameful that they deceive our service members and provide them with such unhealthy living accommodations. They will tell you to sign off on inspections for move ins where there is mold present and where it’s not clean upon move in. If you tell them it’s not ready for move in, they expect you to clean it yourself and provide you with a swiffer and a container of Clorox wipes. Working weekends is required even though they will tell you it’s only once every 6 weeks. They don’t keep people long enough for that to be a reality. You also get “tested” on how you answer the phone and “sell” the rentals. It’s stressful and distracts from your day to day r
A home away from home where co-workers are family and belly aches from laughing
I rarely miss a day of work because doing so would be that I am missing out on a fantastic day. I work with people who consistently raise the bar on creativity, professionalism and customer service. I work for a company that serves some of the best people in the world, military service members and their families. My direct position is all about community outreach. I plan exciting events for our military members and families. I get to plan crafts, field trips, festivals, seminars and so much more. I also get to exercise my outstanding communication skills by managing our website, Facebook page, newsletters and daily resident correspondence. I am often the office cheerleader for our amazing and hard working staff. They are on the front lines of property management; in the trenches doing the ins and outs. They deserve to be showered with praise and I love to do that for them. Every boss I have had with this company has become a lifelong friend. I am even in the good graces of our senior management as well. My opinions and efforts are appreciated on a daily basis. The hardest part of my job is that there aren't enough hours in the day to make it all happen. The most enjoyable part of my job really is everything. I love everything about my job, the people I work with, the company I serve and the families I have become a part of as a result!
Prosmonthly luncheons, celebrated birthday, working with high official military personnel
Conshaving to say goodbye to families when they move as a result of the military
Questions and answers about Balfour Beatty
How did you feel about telling people you worked at Balfour Beatty?
Asked 26 Apr 2017
Proud and would go back
Answered 3 Mar 2019
Absolute joke! Once l started lve seen least 9 people changing job on particular site in Brighton-dirty facilities, I competent bully managers and yeah, stolen goods, dangerous driving....
Answered 27 Dec 2018
What should you wear to an interview at Balfour Beatty?
Asked 29 Mar 2017
For the guys, something smart i.e. a good suit, white shirt, a nice tie. [I like colourful ties]
Answered 14 Oct 2018
Smart Casual office workwear
Answered 8 Aug 2018
How should you prepare for an interview at Balfour Beatty?
Asked 3 Mar 2019
No particular dress code. I suppose it depends on what role you are applying for.
Answered 29 Aug 2021
do your homework on the company
Answered 19 May 2021
How do you feel about going to work at Balfour Beatty each day?
Asked 20 Dec 2018
Terrible due to bullying culture
Answered 25 May 2022
Love my job, where i do it and who i work with.
Answered 5 Mar 2020
If you were to leave Balfour Beatty, what would be the reason?
Asked 11 Nov 2018
management
Answered 4 Aug 2021
Seriously lacking in real time investment to make me feel secure in my role.
