Blog: A Year of Growth – Inside the Bowman Riley Graduate Programme
Starting Out: Learning Through Practice
In his first blog, Lei-Vann McGillvary-Allert reflects on his year at Bowman Riley and his growth through our Part 1 Architectural Assistant graduate programme.
I have always viewed the role of an early-career position as a collaborative two-way transaction; in my position, this was through the privilege of joining the company and the responsibility of helping to establish the benchmark for the new graduate program. I have grown by absorbing mentoring from my peers, giving back through my analysis of the program, and using my cultivated skill set in my day-to-day roles.
Three Teams, A Wealth of Experience
Through this programme, I have rotated quarterly among the energy, Leeds architecture, and Skipton architecture teams. This allowed for a more sensitive understanding of how communication, delivery and mentoring are expressed across the company. From this, I move forward with a wealth of experience across the RIBA stages of work and construction knowledge beyond my role as an architectural assistant.
From the outset, my role within the energy team was a hybrid of learning and transitioning into the working world. From introducing me to the industry’s regulatory information and the fundamentals of the practice’s role within this ecosystem. Within this team, I have worked on a variety of EV schemes, including a climbing wall, covering the early RIBA Stages from inception to planning, and providing supplementary support to the building consultancy team on project safety as a CDM Principal Designer.
Following this, I joined the Leeds architecture team, where I used Revit for the first time, learning it on the fly while leading a project’s design and broadening my understanding of building across different scheme scales, supported by a dynamic mentoring approach from my peers. This emboldened me upon my arrival in Skipton, where I was able to expand my engagement with the later stages of the RIBA Plan of Work through site visits, handover meetings, and support for technical drawing work.
Building Confidence, Communication and Adaptability
Whilst I have refined many skills across my placement, my development in communicating beyond my drawings has taken precedence. From being able to discuss and solve problems with clients and my team members plainly, supplemented by my growing understanding of industry terminology and processes.
Adaptability has also been at the forefront of my experience as I have assisted technologists, Interior designers, and building surveyors. But the overarching process of changing teams quarterly has demonstrated this skill, as I supported roles outside my scope of knowledge. To meet this challenge, I leaned upon the variety of knowledge from my mentors. Actively asking questions and independently researching software and regulations to further my understanding. My goal in improving myself was to alleviate the workload for others in the company.
Paying It Forward Through Mentorship
The overarching gesture of paying it forward through mentorship has been a pivotal force during the graduate programme, in which I have benefitted from the teachings of my mentors as a mentee, but also sharing this forward via my initiative to preside as a mentor for Constructive Futures. This led to my attendance and participation at UKREIIF alongside Bowman Riley’s Academy team and participating in a panel advocating for the inclusion of young professionals in the development of the industry, alongside sharing my own learnings as an early careers professional to others.
This experience has highlighted the many forms that mentorship can take, whether it is informally through industry peers externally to the practice or the formal technical scrutiny from those in your team, each of it allows for a cyclical sense of growth.
Leaving with Confidence
One moment I have taken pride in the most was being able to present my evaluation of my placement to the Directors, with the intent of providing learnings and celebrating the achievements of the graduate programme as well as expressing my joy and thanks for the support throughout the year. The end goal of this journey is to allow the business to accommodate for and excel upon the learning for successive graduates within the changing climate of the industry and the pathway towards becoming fully qualified.
On my return to university to proceed with my master’s degree I will be prepared with a new breath of confidence and industry knowledge. I leave reflecting on the start of my professional journey through the year having grown from the graduate who was stunted in confidence with endless questions to being entrusted across the teams to independently lead aspects of projects!