Paid internships offer valuable tool to attract new staff

Internships play a vital role in shaping the next generation of construction professionals, offering students and graduates the hands-on experience they need to transition from education to industry. 

Paid internships provide advantages for both interns and companies, also giving companies strategic tools for attracting, training, and retaining top talent in a competitive job market. 

Steve Drury FCIOB knows this firsthand, having started his own career as an intern at Rooff 40 years ago as part of his sandwich course in 1985. 

Now Director - Building and Development at Rooff, Steve oversees the London-based medium-sized construction company’s in-house training academy, which takes on two to three candidates each year, ranging from 16-year-old school leavers looking for an apprenticeship to university students and graduates looking for their first job.

The number of interns depends on the roles available and project pipeline, which Steve says is important for both intern and internship provider. “If schemes are too small, there isn’t the structure in place to be able to fully support someone,” Steve says. 

A community effort 

Hiring and teaching interns is not without its risks, and Steve says he sympathises with employers who are reluctant to offer internships for fear that the employee will leave soon after it is completed, but adds that this risk is worth taking, as each company plays a role in addressing the construction industry’s skills gap.

“You can’t keep everyone, but hopefully you’ll get someone [to replace them] who has also been given a good start. That is where it’s the industry helping itself.”

The downsides are also vastly outweighed by the upsides, he says. 

“We should be thinking about developing our businesses, and all the new energy coming in can come with new thought. If they’re still at a theoretical stage, hopefully they’re being taught the new theory. You want to bring that in to help keep refreshing yourself, and obviously you can then give them the benefit of the actual practical experience.”

The key, he adds, is to be realistic about how many interns can be taken on at once. “Keep the number manageable on the appropriate job area where they can be supported, and then you’ll find you’ll get the most out of it. You want to be able to put them in the team where they can then move on, so they can start actually giving back to you quite quickly.”

Finding new talent 

Even when internships are not immediately available, Steve is always on the lookout for new talent to take on when the opportunity becomes available, through events such as university open days and CIOB’s local hub.

The latter allowed him to meet Osereimen D Akhilele, a CIOB Tomorrow’s Leader who subsequently joined Rooff as a graduate assistant site manager. When they first met, there were no immediate opportunities at Rooff, but Steve says he recognised the potential for Osereimen to become a long-term employee.

“I’m always recruiting … and he’s obviously very energetic and fully self-motivated in terms of putting himself out there to find a path and find these connections. So we naturally met, because I’m making an effort and he’s making an effort, and that joint effort equals a result.”

It’s this same energy and interest that Steve is looking for when meeting university students. Rather than meeting them at the end of their studies, he says he usually invites them on an internship between their first and second years, and a second between their second and third years, with the idea that they can then move into a job after completing their degree. 

“I don't offer these opportunities lightly,” he says. “It’s with the view that we’ve had the interview, in a way, and it’s almost a job offer straight away, if it all pans out then the career path is starting.”

Advice for interns

Steve encourages students looking for internships to keep this in mind when applying for positions. 

“Don't say that you want to start your own business in five years, which quite a few do,” he says. “It may or may not become a reality, but for an employer … I really want five to 10 years from you.”

He also encourages new interns to be specific about what they’re looking for, with the understanding that this may change as they gain more experience across the business. 

“If they can focus their interest into a particular field, that helps the conversation with the potential employer,” he says. “Help the employer by saying ‘I've got a strong interest in x and y’ … because once you're in, then you can continue that conversation with the employer. And if it needs to shift, you're doing it together.”