An eventful day in the construction industry

13 enthusiastic students defied the weather and met on an early Wednesday morning ready for a glimpse into the construction industry. The majority of the group was composed of girls, which was jokingly pointed out by the different companies.

Bb__img_0428Much information

The day started by visiting Bergen Tomteselskap. The company has worked with the city’s development for 35 years. They prepare land properties for sale and later construction. CEO Asbjørn Algrøy made a short introduction about the company’s work. The students asked questions frequently during the presentation which showed a real interest and knowledge of the field. Participants were invited to come back at a later time and were encouraged to contact the company.

The trip continued to Svartediket water treatment facilities, where representatives from Bergen city council welcomed us. The Planning and Environmental Agency, Transportation Agency, Water and Sewer Agency, Green Agency and Agency for Construction and Private Planning held short presentations.

Bb__minglingTrainee Vest

The city council is also a part of the new traineeship programme Trainee Vest, where one of the traineeship positions is at the Department for Climate, Environment and City Development. At the end of the visit, we were served a good lunch and had some time to mingle. The city council expressed that they were happy to have been visited by the students, and saw the event as a great chance to highlight different opportunities in the organization.

The next stop was NCC. Here we could see photos of specific construction projects from the past few months, among which was the new Student Centre at UiB and the Løvåsen nursing home (The biggest in Norway). We also got to know NCC’s partnering (a new form of cooperation for all people involved in building or construction project), before a specific construction project was described. We were given an insight into different processes of the project development.

The last company we visited was Smidt & Ingebrigsten, which, because of the lack of space in its own offices, presented itself in the Law faculty building. During the presentation we were informed about their work and different projects in which they took part. In addition, we got to know that the company works with students of Høyskolen on different tasks, which was especially appreciated by the audience.

Bb__alleFeedback

The students were very pleased after the long day and wanted to take part in similar projects in the future. They especially liked the idea of visiting companies in their own offices, not the opposite way. – That way we had a chance to see how they work.

The variety of companies that were presented was also good. It was interesting to be able to see and compare how the different companies reacted to the same questions.

Take the companies’ invitation seriously and contact them to find out about your possibilities!