Work Experience Spotlight: Elsa

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Work Experience Elsa 2025

At JCW, we are passionate about helping young people explore the world of engineering, building services and facilities maintenance. This May, we were delighted to welcome Elsa, a third-year student from Preston Lodge High School, to spend a week with us gaining hands-on work experience, based at our office in Scotland.

Practical Experience

While Elsa hasn’t yet decided on a specific career path, this experience was designed to help her explore opportunities in mechanical and electrical engineering, facilities management and project support services. This placement was facilitated through our Divisional Manager, Craig Scott, also, Elsa’s Dad. A great opportunity to wrap up her school year and gain valuable insight into the day-to-day operations of a national building services provider.

From the Helpdesk to Site Surveys

Throughout the week, Elsa had the opportunity to observe and participate in various areas of our business:

  • Supporting our service desk team, learning how we handle reactive maintenance and planned preventative maintenance (PPM) requests.

  • Assisting with job quoting procedures, offering a view into the commercial and operational planning side of the business.

  • Joining our engineers on site surveys at live project locations.

Elsa’s highlight of the week?

An airside visit to Edinburgh Airport, where she gained a behind-the-scenes look at how assets are maintained and serviced, in such a high-security and fast-paced environment. Elsa particularly enjoyed the airside experience, where she had the chance to see restricted areas and understand how a critical site is kept running through skilled engineering and support services. They also visited The Royal Edinburgh Hospital, which provided a different insight.

“She really enjoyed seeing the real-world application of building services engineering,” said Craig. “The site visits helped her see how different teams work together to deliver reliable infrastructure support.”

Learning about Engineering

Elsa left the placement with a clearer picture of what working in the engineering services industry involves. She developed a basic understanding of:

  • Internal workflows within a mechanical and electrical contractor.

  • The importance of teamwork in delivering compliance-driven building maintenance.

  • The variety of roles that support our operations – from office administration to onsite engineering.

While she’s still considering her long-term career goals, the experience helped highlight the appeal of practical, hands-on work and the impact of facilities support services on essential buildings.

Reflecting on the Challenges

One of the challenges were “The early mornings!” Craig laughed. “Getting up and ready for an 8:00am start was probably her biggest hurdle - a typical teenager’s challenge!”

A Valuable Introduction to the Built Environment Industry

“As a 14-year-old, Elsa wasn’t entirely sure what to expect,” Craig said. “But she came away more engaged and enthusiastic, especially after the site visits.”

At JCW, we are proud to provide early career experiences that open doors for the next generation. Giving students like Elsa a week in the life of a leading UK-based engineering firm helps them understand both the technical and people-focused aspects of what we do and just how varied and rewarding a career in building services and facilities maintenance can be.

We would like to thank Elsa for her enthusiasm, and Craig and the team for offering their time and guidance. Elsa will now be preparing to begin her National 5 qualifications and we look forward to seeing where her journey takes her next.

Interested in a career with JCW?

If you are interested in a career in engineering, administration, management or finance. We have an office location near you: in Bristol, Cardiff, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Ipswich and Leicester. Get in touch to learn more about our current opportunities.