Unskilled building site job as work experience for civil engineering?

[boysonabeach]

DS is applying to uni for civil engineering. He did a few days of unpaid work experience with a civil eng firm in July, but it was office-based. Next summer he is hoping to get some paid experience, working on a building site for a few weeks, but he will be unskilled. He realises he would need some baseline building-site safety training.

This is not a line of work we know much about. My questions are:
How easy is it to get entry-level unskilled building site work? Are jobs advertised via mainstream sites like Indeed or specialist agencies? Are they very competitive?

Does he want to do the manual labour? If so, I would recommend getting an apprenticeship over a degree. Lots of companies will pay you whilst you are doing this, and you can get a degree (without the debt). We have taken on a lot of people this way that have gone on to get a degree and have done very well, chartership etc.

If he prefers the engineering side, I would contact engineering and design firms for summer placements instead. For site work, contact local subcontractors who will have non-skilled work for him to do. Everyone needs a CSCS card, so look into getting that. Most companies will fund it (it’s not expensive), you just need to revise the book and sit a short test. But, you won’t be able to work on site without it.

Thanks - he wants to go to uni rather than do an apprenticeship. He can certainly try to get a summer placement with an engineering firm, but I expect they will be targeted at university students, not 18 year-olds who are between school and uni.

He should get himself a CSCS labourer card which means completing a short Health and safety course. That's the basic "passport" to work on construction sites. He may then be able to pick up some labouring work or site based engineering technician/surveying assistant type work. Its always worth writing to or visiting local sites, if he says he's a student looking for work experience. I think it would be very "grounding" to have worked at the sharp end if he goes on to a degree!

He doesn't need to work on a building site you know - unis won't be looking for that.

His UCAS form for Sept 2025 entry is already submitted and he already has 2 offers.

He wants some relevant work experience for Summer 2025 (between A levels and uni) that will a) be paid and b) might help his CV stand out when he applies for civil engineering internships for summer 2026. It doesn't have to be on a building site, but it seems to tick both boxes.

Have you thought about a degree apprenticeship? He would still get his degree but working at the same time (no student debt either) have a look at Exeter uni for this.

He doesn't want to do a degree apprenticeship. He wants to go to uni. He will be doing an MEng.

Thanks to NotMeNoNo for the info about the green card - he's looking into that.

I understand your son's thinking and it's a good idea. I think it could have benefits in terms of understanding the challenges faced by the people who have to implement his future designs, and how the industry works more generally. I don't imagine it will give him huge advantages over other trainee engineers, but things like this can help sometimes in a hoard of identikit students and graduates.
The advice you've been given about the CSCS card is sound and in most areas of the country there's work going, so good for him.

Definitely get the CSCS card. Most building site work is via agencies. I won't recommend any as such because I don't agree with the business model, it's a tax dodge and takes away security and employment rights from the workers, but it's the way it is and the hourly rate is reasonable and it's a good way of getting temporary work.

If he Googles construction agencies he can see who operates in your area - below is a couple of examples that DP used in the past when he drove machines on construction sites.

https://www.thornbaker.co.uk/disciplines/construction (they say they work in civil engineering on their website so he might be able to get on a site relevant to his interests).

https://sitecontractpersonnel.co.uk/construction/

When I was an engineering student I spent a summer working on a large construction site, helping with the survey/engineering. I look back nostalgically on a long hot summer bumping around the site in a Land Rover. It was brilliant.

The bottom line is, if he wants to be a civil engineer he'll love it, may very well get an internship with the same company later, or even a job offer if they like him. Better than working in Costa Coffee.

Also a lot of the large contractors eg on HS2, have to do a certain amount of employment support/local skills development so offering a pre-student work experience could fit that for them.