Placement Year Review at MBDA

The Role

Role Description

Researching for other members of the team, some input into final reports, trials with end users followed by a write up

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

★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 3/10

I often felt like a work experience student with no real work. There was often no work for me so felt like a spare part and wondered why they had employed me. When I was given some real work it was interesting and often involved trips out of the office.

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

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

They were really friendly and looked after me throughout the placement and gave great careers advice, they just weren't very good at delegating work.

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

★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 3/10

I had 3 different managers throughout my placement, which wasn't very good. My first boss left 3 weeks after I started, then the next one left after 8 months, then I had a third one for my last 3 months. This was unsettling and they couldn't really give me much support as they were still getting used to their new role as a manager. The rest of the team tried to help as much as they could, but they were in the same situation.

4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

Bored a lot of the time. Many weeks I asked for work and it was met with the response 'we have nothing for you'. Made me question why they had employed me. This was partly due to the constant shake ups with the management of the team.

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

★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 3/10

I was given a report to write in the last 2 months which I had sole responsibility for but the rest of the time I was hardly given an responsibility.

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

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Rated 7/10

I learnt quite a lot about Human Factors and the jobs the rest of the team had had over the years. Talking to them was very useful to be able to share their knowledge and I learnt how to use tools such as Microsoft Project, Visio etc that could help in the future.

The Organisation

7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

The HF group is very sociable and would often go to the pub for lunch or meet up outside of work. The office environment was relaxed with a fairly young team.

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

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 5/10

HR set up the placement very well and I was assigned a buddy and a mentor. It was just my specific department that wasn't very organised in finding work for me.

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

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

All the new graduates and undergraduates go away for 4 days of team building and learning more about the company, which was excellent. There was also plenty of opportunities to go on courses that were relevant to your work.

10. What were the perks on your work placement?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

• Flexi Time
• Subsidised Canteen
• National Travel
• International Travel
• Financial Bonus
• Company Parties/Events
• Above 25 days holiday

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

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

They have already offered me a graduate job with a good salary and perks.

Other Information

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

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

Rated 6/10

MBDA is predominantly a male dominated environment so a lot of the graduates/undergraduates went to the pub on a Thursday. It was personal choice as to whether you went along. I didn't really 'hang around' with the other placement people but spent more time with my team.

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

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 5/10

There are plenty of cheaper places to live but socialising is more expensive than some places as Bristol is a large city.

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

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Rated 7/10

I believe the nightlife was good. Not really my scene but the other employees seemed to have some good nights out.

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

★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 3/10

There wasn't anything organised by the company but some people choose to play sport together in their own time.

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?

It looks like next year's placement student will be given more structured work and pushed further. They took on board my comments and agreed they were pretty bad at giving me things to do. The current boss is the best one I have had and is keen to improve things so just because my experience wasn't the best I can see potential for the future. The perks are great too!

Review 27/67 for MBDA

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