Are they ready for these roles?
Are they ready for these roles?
One of the highlights was seeing junior engineers confidently present their roles and responsibilities on live construction projects, explaining how they manage day-to-day site engineering activities, construction management, and project coordination. It was also interesting to speak with several site engineers working extensively with total stations during setting out and surveying works. Their passion for engineering, technology, and precision construction was clear, and they shared how much they enjoy working within supportive project teams.
A huge credit goes to Kevin Hughes, McAleer & Rushe lead engineer responsible for graduate training and development. The structured construction training programme he has created gives young engineers, graduates and apprentices exposure to every major stage of a construction project – from groundwork engineering, piling works, and reinforced concrete frames, through to fit-out, QA inspections, and final project handovers.
This kind of practical construction engineering training is incredibly valuable for graduates, junior engineers and young professionals looking to build long-term careers in the industry. Learning directly on live construction sites while working with advanced surveying equipment such as total stations helps young professionals develop both technical ability and confidence in real-world environments.
Encourages engineers to step outside their Comfort Zones
What stood out most was how Kevin encourages engineers to step outside their comfort zones. That is where real growth happens in construction and engineering. Experience is built through challenges, responsibility, and exposure to different site conditions, and it was fantastic to see a company investing so heavily in developing the next generation of construction professionals.
Throughout the day, I visited multiple projects across London and met some truly great people along the way. The atmosphere across the teams was positive, professional, and collaborative, and you could genuinely see that people enjoyed what they were doing and took pride in their work.
Construction training, graduate development, site engineering, setting out, and total station surveying are all essential parts of building successful projects and strong engineering careers — and it was brilliant to see these values being put into practice so effectively on site.
Big thanks to McAleer & Rushe team for the invitation, it was really great to visit the sites, see the interesting & challenging projects and most of all – meet fantastic people!