Placement Year Review at National Instruments

The Role

Role Description

Supporting customers with technical issues.
supporting field engineers and system engineers with proof of concepts and aiding them in there projects.

1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?

★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 4/10

I learnt a lot. The progression in the company is very much sails centric. this is not what I want to go into.

2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

After I had settled in I was accepted as one of the NI family

3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

There is help if you need it. Some times this help is better than others. some of the team leaders are more helpful than others.

4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

There was to much work for the number of people. Working after hours was a normal thing in the department and was some what expected. Due to the amount of repetitive work I got bored. fortunately there was opportunity for a rotation in a deferential department which I took.

5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Lots of responsibility at the start of the placement there was some what of a sink or swim mentality. This responsibility grew as we supported customers personally.

6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

I am now instructor level trained in LabVIEW and have delivered training to customers. I have become CLAD citified and have gained multiple certifications in various areas of LabVIEW. I have also gained skills in technical righting (being published in national press) as well as skills in video production and editing.

The Organisation

7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 5/10

Mixed there were long phases of dull quietness then on the other hand there were fun times where we all had fun. management recognised the bad moral in the office and attempted to rectify it.

8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Very well organised training was seamless and progression though out the placement was structured and explained well.

9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Invested a lot of time and money in my training however this will benefit the company even if I never work for them again. This is because I will use there tools again in industry.

10. What were the perks on your work placement?

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 5/10

• Subsidised/Company Gym
• Company Parties/Events

11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

The only progression in the company in the UK is to go into sails. This is of no interest to me as I want to go into R&D. All of NI's R&D is done in the US. when brining the desire to be in R&D up in meetings with my team leaders it was not an option.

Other Information

12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

We all bonded well and had some good times. I will be keeping in touch with the other placement students and colleagues in the future.

13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?

★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 4/10

I found it more expensive than where my uni is. That is due to doing a placement in the south east. We found was around this such as house parties.

14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?

★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 3/10

There are a two clubs and a lot of pubs. Reading is not a long was off for a big night out.

15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

We had the opportunities to do many things, we were even encouraged to set up doing the national 3 peaks in 24 hours and allowed to use company equipment were needed.

In addition to these questions, is there any extra information you would like to leave about your experiences on your work placement that other students may be interested in?

The department is growing in size so subsequent years should have more fun!

Review 5/7 for National Instruments

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