Summer placement start to engineering career for Rhydian25th Apr 2017

A young civil engineer who began his career with a summer placement with Jones Bros is now project manager on a mid-Wales wind farm.

Rhydian Hafal, 28, is currently project managing the completion of infrastructure for the 17-turbine Garreg Lwyd Hill wind farm in Powys, mid Wales, on behalf of client RES.

He was also involved with the design process of the wind farm, in the months prior to work starting on site in January 2016.

Rhydian, from Ruthin, got his first taste of work at Jones Bros with a summer placement while studying for a degree in civil engineering at Cardiff University.

He said: “Civil engineering is exciting and varied and seeing the end result of your work is really rewarding.

“I did my first work experience with Jones Bros at the end of my second year of my degree course. I started work on a landfill site and loved it from the word go. I picked everything up quickly and it convinced me that I had made the right decision in choosing civil engineering.

“When I went back to college in the September some of my fellow students had also undertaken work experience but most of that had been in design consultancies where they had been in an office rather than at the sharp end like I had.”

Rhydian graduated in 2010 and underwent further placements with Jones Bros, before taking time out to travel. He took up permanent employment with the company in June 2011.

His experience has included working as the site agent for Jones Bros on a £7m access road to a new Energy from Waste (EfW) plant in Buckinghamshire.

Rhydian added: “I would definitely recommend doing summer work placements, as it can help you be certain you are following the right career path and gives you loads of great experience.

“The hours are long and it’s not always the easiest of jobs but if you are up for a challenge and are willing to work hard, then civil engineering is a really good career. Jones Bros is a great company to work for and to progress in.”