Retaining Geotech Engineering graduates in the UK

[Llessur]

To be honest, I can understand why the geotechnical engineering community is always complaining about lack of appropriately skilled staff. I have been working as a geotech engineer for 7 months after graduating and have been so neglected by my company in terms of training and development that I have decided to leave to join a supermarket's graduate training scheme.

I think if geotech companies are interested in retaining a skilled and qualified workforce then a lot more time and effort should be put into retaining the workforce that they actually have. especially seeing as there are so few geotechnical engineering graduates available in the UK these days.

Maybe people should take a leaf out of the book of some large companies and realise how much a 'team' atmosphere and the promise of career development can actually directly influence the job satisfaction of young graduates. After all, most people don't appreciate being stuck away in the corner of an office and ignored for 7 months of the year.

Out of the 7 other people who graduated from my Eng Geol degree course last July, I only know of one who is still employed in the industry. Surely this matter needs addressing???

Good luck to you all.

 

[BigH]

Welcome to the real world. I spent the first 5 years (say, 10 months out of 12) out on drillrigs and other fun stuff in obscure places like northern Saskatchewan, Labrador, Resolute Bay, etc. Learned a lot on the job that way. You've complained about lack of interest in training - I can't say much about that as I've no experience in UK, but I note in Ground Engineering that salaries are a bit low. Could this, too, be why your friends are leaving??

 

[cvg]

not all companies place the same emphasis on employee retention. You may need to check around and look for a better employer. Maybe you would be better off working for a general civil or for a contractor.

 

[Focht3]

What work/tasks has the company had you performing? What were your expectations? Why do you feel neglected?



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