6 week work experience at McCann’s for a young student after finishing GCSEs
“Whilst being at McCanns, I have learnt a variety of skills and widened my knowledge on civil engineering and all the way the McCann company works together to accomplish jobs.”
Recently, McCanns welcomed Maggie back to the team for a second time! Maggie previously undertook a week-long work experience a few years ago. She returned this summer after completing her GCSEs for a six-week placement, during which she worked across all departments within McCann and spent a week with our sister company, Peter James Homes, visiting one of their new developments.
Maggie summarised her time with us at McCanns by saying,
“Whilst being at McCanns, I have learnt a variety of skills and widened my knowledge on civil engineering and all the way the McCann company works together to accomplish jobs. During my first week, I spent time with Jade, the HR manager, shadowing her as she made PowerPoint presentations and spreadsheets.
Working with Kate, the EDI manager, I participated in the McCann Employee Community meetings, where topics were discussed to help everyone in the company feel more included and comfortable. In the meeting, we also explored ways to promote McCann’s in different ways. After the meeting, I completed feedback forms to assess what had been achieved and to identify what still needed doing within the community.
During my time at McCann’s, I shadowed Environmental Manager, Eleanor, who was working on McCann’s New Carbon Hub. I reviewed the hub and generated feedback for it, as well as creating a “Carbon Jargon” document that will sit on the hub. We then looked at ways to make McCann’s Environmental toolbox talks more interactive. The toolbox talks were really interesting, they showed ways the environmental factors can affect construction sites, for example.
Throughout my time at McCanns, I also spent a week with Peter James Homes (PJH). They are currently working on a new site, Coventry Lane. One of the days, we went to site, and had a tour of all the houses which are in the process of being built.
Most of my time at McCann’s was spent with admin and accounts, where I was using 4ps to match PODs with invoices, and I was responsible for making an Excel spreadsheet that showed information for key companies that accounts use frequently.
I worked multiple times with Ben Feltham, who is Head of Compliance, and I completed the McCann CAT & Genny Usage summary and feedback, which I then put on excel.
In my last week, Kate gave me control of the YouCann website where I designed web pages for the wellbeing page, carbon hub page, health and safety page and McCann community page, which was a lot of fun and helped me gain design and technology experience.”
Thank you for joining our Team at Head Office this summer, Maggie! You were a valuable asset who will be missed. We wish you all the best with your future career and the college course you’ll be starting in September!
Hosting these work experience weeks is invaluable for McCanns as well as the wider Construction industry. It gives us opportunities to support future talent development, promotes the industry to young people, and helps address skills shortages. McCann focuses on community engagement in all the areas we work in, and work experience students bring a fresh perspective, enthusiasm, and support us in creating a positive work environment. We are proud to have a team of industry-leading experts who are happy to mentor and share their experiences with up-and-coming talent.
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