Summer placement Review
by Costain
This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
3.7
-
The Company
4.1
-
The Culture
3.1
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
Got a wide variety of experiences, although limited by the fact that the project was in it's early stages, so there were not many opportunities to work on-site.
Good performance was well recognised and appreciated. Poor performance was addressed constructively.
IT equipment and orders were in a total mess for the first 2 weeks, and there was little support to fix this because my line manager was on holiday.
Sometimes very busy, sometimes didn't have much to do. The workload was somewhat inconsistent, with me effectively not doing much for a few days, then being somewhat overloaded with work.
Was given several tasks which were crucial to the functioning of several project teams. This would build up. I started out doing very simple, somewhat unimportant tasks, and gradually as my performance was recognised I was assigned more meaningful tasks.
Plenty. It was a very valuable experience, particularly with regards to a practical introduction to the use of BIM (building information modelling) on the project, and it's development in the industry as a whole.
The Company
Generally friendly, helpful, constructive. Costain, being the general contractor, naturally had longer working hours for their employees, and people were on average probably more busy than in designers' offices. This obviously impacts people's attitudes and moods, but it was well balanced and managed.
Overall, well organised. The biggest let down was poor organisation of my IT equipment and software in the first two weeks, causing a significant backlog and bottleneck for many tasks which I had to complete in the office.
Personal Track Safety (PTS) course CSCS card scheme Regular seminars (approx. once every week or two weeks) Co-workers would take time if they were available, to explain things where necessary.
Flexi Time
Company Parties/Events
Above 25 days holiday
Travel loan
Very hopeful. Costain is expanding further into the rail sector and currently winning many contracts. Recently Costain acquired Rhead group, which shows that they're expanding.
The Culture
There was an induction day on the first day, which introduced all the students to one another. Throughout the rest of the project, not much however. There were presentations which all the students had to prepare towards the end of the summer placement... and present online to other students.
Very affordable. On a few occasions, social events were even sponsored by Costain.
N/A. I didn't participate much in nightlife.
There were plenty, although I didn't get the opportunity to.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
International
October 2015
