Nick MSc BSc
Coastal & Rivers

Joining Royal Haskoning

After completing my MSc and undertaking a number of international placements in Greece and Bermuda, I wanted to return to the UK and join a multidisciplinary consultancy to gain first class UK based consultancy experience.

I chose Royal Haskoning for the multidisciplinary aspect and the dedication to employee development. I was made extremely welcome by my colleagues in Glasgow on my first day and again, following my move to the Solihull office.

Working for Royal Haskoning

The environment is open, friendly and relaxed, but very professional. As a graduate, I have plenty of peers.

Within my first year at Royal Haskoning I have worked as a graduate scientist on projects covering a broad range of subjects. The variety of projects has ranged from renewable energy and environmental assessment to flood defence and port development. This has included fieldwork and site visits, meetings with clients, report writing, data collection and analysis.

Due to the multidisciplinary nature of the company, I have been afforded the flexibility to work on projects suited to my skills and interests, whilst also developing new skills. I have worked in and visited a range of Royal Haskoning offices throughout the UK.

Developing within Royal Haskoning

The working environment at Royal Haskoning has allowed me develop myself personally and professionally through both structured training and also more bespoke training such as external courses, toolbox sessions, seminars and knowledge shares.

In addition to the structured and ad-hoc training, I am also working towards professional Chartership, within the professional body relevant to my qualifications, skills and, most importantly my interests. Royal Haskoning has a structured training scheme for CIWEM, which is the professional body relevant to my profession. The scheme has assigned me to a mentor within the company enabling me to progress as quickly as possible.

LAUNCH – Graduate Training Scheme within Royal Haskoning

As part of LAUNCH, Royal Haskoning's graduate training scheme, I have attended a number of courses over the year period, including a residential event. The structured graduate training scheme has provided me with the specific tools to take me from graduate to consultant in the quickest and most comprehensive way. Aside from the development, it has also allowed me to get to know almost all my fellow 70 new graduates in the company, providing me with an excellent network of peers within which to share knowledge and experiences as we collectively progress through our careers.

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Gary BEng(Hons)
Maritime

I am a maritime graduate engineer with more than three years’ experience. I joined the company in 2004 on a one-year placement as part of my sandwich degree. I studied BEng Civil and Coastal Engineering at the University of Plymouth with an engineering based diving module.

I found Royal Haskoning whilst searching for major civil and coastal based engineering consultants, who also provided diving services. I knew that for my career to make a good start, I needed to base my placement year with a well renowned company, specialising in major maritime projects worldwide. I felt that Royal Haskoning could offer me the best opportunity to gain a broad spectrum of skills required to help me achieve chartered accreditation and to keep me continually challenged with a vast range of projects and the opportunity to travel. During my placement year, I worked on a variety of projects ranging from large international schemes to small domestic ones. I was granted the opportunity for sponsorship during my remaining year at university and a graduate position upon completion of my degree, which I gratefully accepted.

I returned to the company as a graduate in 2006 from which point I have gained experience in:

I gained further diving certification through Royal Haskoning, and have recently become the newest member of the Royal Haskoning dive team. The team offers the client an engineer’s perspective, following inspection of underwater structures.

I am part of an ongoing training scheme with the company, which helps contribute towards my overall achievement of chartership.

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Victoria BSc(Hons)
Coastal & Rivers

I did a BSc (Hons) in Geography at the University of Birmingham, and although my degree was relatively general, I developed a keen interest in coastal science and geomorphology. I came to Royal Haskoning straight after I graduated and quickly became involved in a wide range of projects, despite my lack of experience.

I chose Royal Haskoning due to the type of work offered, the possibility to work on international projects and the graduate support offered. I quickly gained responsibilities, firstly managing small projects and work packages, and then moving on to larger projects.

My work over the past three years has been extremely varied and interesting, ranging from defence inspections in Trinidad, to project managing a high-level strategic coastal management project in East Anglia. A mentor has been assigned to help me with my career development and work towards the necessary competencies (CIWEM). I am aiming to sit my professional review in 2010 to enable me to achieve Chartership.

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Tom BEng(Hons)
Development & Transport

It was on my first visit to the Maritime division at the Royal Haskoning Peterborough office that I knew I would be able to travel far and wide, to work on interesting projects on a grand scale.

Royal Haskoning sponsored me for my second and third years at university and under my sponsorship agreement, I undertook two summer placements of 10 weeks and one Easter placement of four weeks. Within this space of time, I worked on a vast array of projects from local British ones in Jersey, Harwich and Dover, to larger projects in Pakistan. During this time, I also attended many site visits for the projects I worked on.

I graduated from Nottingham University in 2008 with a BEng in Civil Engineering first class, and started work in the London office for the Maritime division. On completion of my degree, I went to work in the London office as a Maritime Civil Engineer, where I worked again on many local and international projects. These included projects in Bahrain, Eritrea, Qatar and The Thames Estuary. I also managed to obtain site visits to all these locations, except Eritrea, to meet clients and undertake the relevant work.

The work I undertook during my time in the London office was varied, ranging from feasibility studies and planning, to detailed design and contract writing. During this time, I also completed my first year of a part time Master in Transport at Imperial College London, because of this I was able to undertake research into new and novel methods of transporting natural gas via compressing instead of liquidising. The aim of the research was to illustrate that this method could be used in emerging markets with lower start up costs.

Within Royal Haskoning there is a great culture of networking amongst younger staff. Regular activity weekends are held with our Dutch colleagues and regular sessions, which are part of the Graduate Development Programme, help us to understand what every division in the company does.

I'm currently seconded to the Infrastructure & Building division for a year, to help solve issues on site in Qatar on a New Ship Repair Yard, with quality management and client relations.

In the future, I aim to develop a greater understanding of both Maritime civil engineering and the underlying reasons these installations are required in the modern world. I also have great hopes to travel extensively to fulfil this, and it is with Royal Haskoning, that I see a vast amount of this being undertaken.

In summary, I have already had some great opportunities and experiences, working all round the world as both an undergraduate, and a graduate Engineer. It has been the people and projects within Royal Haskoning that have helped me learn and progress my understanding as an Engineer.

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Vu MSc
Coastal & Rivers

Having the chance to work for Royal Haskoning UK is really a great opportunity as well as new challenge. When I had just graduated from the University 12 years ago, I had my first chance to work alongside a Royal Haskoning team on a project in my home country of Vietnam. For me this was a great experience. I not only had chance to work and learn from acclaimed experts in my field, I also built a strong friendship with them, and from time-to-time, I had a few more opportunities to work with the Royal Haskoning team in Vietnam.

Working with the international team motivated me to leave my country to experience and learn more. During the past seven years I have had the chance to learn and work at several universities in the Netherlands and Belgium, but being an Engineer I’ve always searched for a chance to work for an international consultancy, and now I have this working for Royal Haskoning in the UK.

I really enjoy the working atmosphere within the office and the opportunities available. This is my first year and I have already worked on international projects in Oman, Trinidad and Thailand.

Above all, I am impressed with the personal development policy of the company and believe that it is this that will ensure the sustainable development of the company in the long run. The LAUNCH graduate programme, in which I am participating, is an example of how we are continually developed and supported. I am proud to be a member of Royal Haskoning and I am looking forward to a great career with the company.

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Dan BSc(Hons)
Environment

I was attracted to Royal Haskoning initially as I had worked with the company in my previous job as a sustainable transport officer for Peterborough City Council. A friend from university (UEA Norwich - BSc Environmental Sciences) had joined about a year before I applied, and was really enthusiastic about it.

I contacted Royal Haskoning directly rather than responding to an advertisement and joined the Environment Division in Peterborough in August 2008. My key areas of interest are climate change and sustainable transport, and I have worked on these and a wide variety of other projects since joining. On my first day, I was handed a bundle of folders for a sustainable transport plan at a college in Staffordshire and hit the ground running! I have worked on a variety of projects including climate change adaptation, nationally important habitat creation, sustainability appraisal, sustainable transport infrastructure, shoreline management plans, flood alleviation schemes and carbon accounting and reduction. These projects have been for clients including Regional Development Agencies, Sustrans, and the National Trust.

Our graduate development programme has provided me, first and foremost, with a really good chance to meet and get to know other graduates. Our initial two-day residential course mixed team building exercises, knowledge sharing and social time, and was attended by a many senior Royal Haskoning staff, whose input was extremely interesting. We have had a further number of workshops covering fundamentals such as communication and gaining an understanding of how Royal Haskoning functions, and the many components that make a business operate successfully, all of which have been very well run and interactive - the latter being a key ingredient of good training, as far as I'm concerned.

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Emma BA(Hons)
Development & Transport - Denis Wilson

Before joining Royal Haskoning - Denis Wilson, I no previous experience of transport planning, but chose this area of work because it was relevant to my degree, and I was interested in this type of work. I researched Denis Wilson and Royal Haskoning via their websites and was encouraged to discover they are leading experts within the field. I also liked the fact that it was a 'graduate' job.

At Denis Wilson, I was immersed into projects immediately, and even asked to begin writing a small Transport Statement report on my first day! During my first year and a half, I have worked on a large number of different and varied projects. Generally, I work on small to medium scale projects, which I have enjoyed. It means I have gained a greater understanding of all the different aspects of a project by being involved from begining to end.

I have found that I am developing a great many skills during my work. The LAUNCH programme has given me the chance to meet graduates from other offices within the company and to begin to develop my networking skills! It also demonstrates that Royal Haskoning values its graduates and is committed to encouraging their development. It has increased my understanding of the company as a whole and encourages me to think around the topic we are discussing at the training days.

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Ellie BA MSc
Coastal & Rivers

I carried out my Undergraduate Degree in Geography at Cambridge, and over three years was able to specialise in Coastal Processes, something I was always interested in at school. After Graduating in 2007 I was accepted on a course in ‘Engineering in the Coastal Environment’, which was my bridge from Physical Geography into Engineering, but with a continuation of a scientific approach to coastal studies. I wasn't entirely sure whether the course would lead me into a Consultancy role, or whether I wanted to continue studying, but when it came to applying for jobs, I was attracted by the opportunities in both engineering and coastal management which Royal Haskoning’s Coastal & Rivers division offered.

Since accepting my role as Graduate Scientist/Engineer in Peterborough, I have worked on a range of projects both in the UK and abroad, on varying scales. I think that during the past year of working here, both the experience I have gained working as a consultant, and the LAUNCH Graduate Programme, has enabled me to be more involved in the work I do, understand it at a higher level, and therefore enjoy it more as well.