Daniel Taraszov is looking forward to building a career brick by brick when he begins his Construction Management apprenticeship with global building firm ISG in September.
To support his five-year degree apprenticeship Daniel will be studying at the University of Westminster one day a week.
“I’ll be learning about health and safety, about processes and I will have the opportunity to see each sector of the process of managing a construction site. I’ll have time in the business department, the design department and all other departments that are there. After I finish, I will be an assistant construction manager.”
Daniel says he’s looking forward to working and learning more about ‘the actual physical building and how it’s built. I want learn a lot more about architecture. Also, I like the fact I’m not going to be stuck in just one office, I’ll be visiting sites working on different projects and in uni. I also really like that ISG is international – potentially I can work all over the world.”
Daniel, who joined UTC Reading in Year 12, says he really enjoys studying engineering and architecture, so set to looking for those types of apprenticeships.
Amazingly, the ISG one was the first one he applied for! First time lucky! What does he think they saw in him?
“I did quite well in the interviews – there was actually lots of parts of the interview – some on the hazards around construction site, then some more specific construction related questions to make sure that I have the basics down. And then there was a group interview, and I got to speak with current apprentices to ask them questions
“I think they chose me because I was prepared, I’d researched the industry and the company. I’d researched some of the projects they’d done on their website, where they described some of the problems that came up, so I could link my answers back to them.
“I also talked about the subjects I studied at UTC and how the skills I’ve developed there will help me in the job. I could talk about problem solving skills and link it to projects we’ve done. I think my out of school work helps too – I teach kids to swim – so I showed I’ve got good communication skills and can lead a group.
“I’m really pleased I picked UTC Reading for Sixth Form as they offer a really good engineering BTEC and the teachers are high quality. You definitely get more career opportunities here because of the links to companies – like for example the drop-down days where Dyson or BMW would come in and set a project. It prepares you a lot better for the real world of work than a regular school and I’d definitely recommend it.”
