BEAR Scotland is passionate about supporting the pipeline of talent into the transport and civil engineering industry. As well as a comprehensive STEM schools education programme, we have strong links with a number of universities.

We work with the likes of Edinburgh Napier, Heriot Watt, Edinburgh, Strathclyde, Abertay and Dundee on various initiatives to engage with students taking their first steps on the career ladder.

For instance, in the last few weeks we’ve attended careers open days hosted by Heriot Watt and Dundee Universities.

We’ve also organised mentoring partnerships with current students at both Strathclyde and Napier.

Over the summer a total of 12 undergraduate students participated in summer placements with us – five in the South East and seven in the North West. Some of these students are staying on with us, working on a part-time basis while they continue their studies.

In January we are planning to take on seven undergraduates from Abertay on three-month placements as required by their Civil Engineering course. We will also be attending their Market Street event on Monday 4 November to highlight the opportunities for careers with BEAR Scotland.

There are many different paths into a career. We’re therefore very pleased to welcome nine new graduate apprentices into the fold – studying at university one day a week and working with us on the other four. We also have two modern apprentices.

The pipeline seems to be working.

Twelve new graduates joined BEAR over the summer months – nine in the South East Unit and three in the North West.

Iain Murray, BEAR Scotland Managing Director says: “Nurturing the next generation of talent into the industry is fundamental to BEAR’s philosophy. There are so many different routes into a career, and we work hard to create opportunities at every level. We’re proud to keep attracting quality, talented young people into our business.”