Manufacturing Technology Engineer Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my Placement working at 3M. I was based in Loughborough working in 3M's Health Care/ DDSD manufacturing site. I got a real good understanding of how a real life manufacturing site operates and got involved with some really interesting projects. Overall I developed a whole range of skills, did some great networking and had loads of fun with social events and that kind of stuff so a very positive experience for me!

I felt very valued by my colleagues. They were very welcoming when I first started my placement and helped me settle in and make a good start to the placement. I can honestly say I don't dislike anybody I work with and everybody's up for a good laugh. They were happy to help with any difficulties I had during my placement and I was happy to return the favour and help them with anything they needed. Overall it was a very nice environment to work in.

My supervisor was very approachable and helped decide what projects I got involved in. She had a very open mind about things and provided me with feedback whenever I wanted it. We had one on one meetings fortnightly which we used to discuss any problems I had or discuss any work she wanted me to do. I could contact my supervisor or ask her for help any time and I wasn't restricted to just using the fortnightly meetings which was nice and comforting.

The volume of work that came my way was just the right amount I felt. I always had something to do, whether it be getting on with a longer term project or completing normal day to day activities such as solving problems experienced somewhere in the manufacturing process. I didn't feel swamped with work which was nice as I was still learning about the products and processes along the way. At the end of the day, you can get involved in as little or as much as you want but if you to get the most out of the placement, you really want to be doing something every day which was the case for me!

My responsibilities grew as the year went on and I proved I could do the work. Naturally I started off doing tasks that were not of major importance, but once I had proved I could do the work my responsibilities got much bigger. By the half way point I was given 'ownership' of one of the production lines and it became my job to implement improvement ideas for that production line and tackle any problems experienced on the line.

I developed a whole load of skills during my placement at 3M Loughborough. I saw biggest improvements in my interpersonal and communicational skills through talking to and working with different departments and contractors. These are transferrable skills that are essential to any job so the fact I now have experiences I can talk about in an interview of times when I've showed those skills is great! My technical knowledge also improved as I got a lot more familiar with how the machines used in the manufacturing site works.

The atmosphere was very nice. Everyone in the office was relaxed and willing to help when you needed it. Everybody was also up for a laugh and a good chat. That's not to say that nobody got on with there job however, work takes priority of course. Generally a very happy and great atmosphere to work in.

My placement was organised well. It was made clear to me at the beginning who everybody was and who I needed to ask to get a tour around the different departments on site. Most training activities and procedures to follow were also made clear which made settling into the placement relatively easy. Some of training sessions could have been organised a bit better but on the whole the placement was well organised.

3M as a company invested in me quite a lot as they allowed me to go on the same training sessions that the graduates got to attend. I ended up using most of the training I did during the placement and I can now put on my CV that I have completed certain training activities which will look good for other jobs I apply for in the future.

For engineering graduate roles the direct path of entry into the company is through the O2 graduate scheme. I will definitely be applying for the graduate scheme once I complete my university degree. They have offered to fast track me through the application process which just shows that doing a placement with 3M and really gives you an advantage if you are thinking of applying for a graduate place.

Yes there were 4 Industrial Placement students based in Loughborough. It's not only other placement students who want to go out and enjoy themselves however, plenty of other older colleagues also enjoy a good socialising event and so I had the option of going out for drinks most weekends and some weekdays! Loughborough university is also round the corner and there are plenty of student nights during the week too.

As Loughborough is a university town based in the midlands, socialising events and cost of living is relatively low, especially compared to London. You have the option of living with other students or living with other professionals, all relatively similar in price. My rent was £475 a month (my own flat) and I spent about £50 a week on food.

The nightlife was good. Loughborough is a university town and so there were always student nights on. Loughborough is only small and so taxi's and cabs are never more than £15. Drinks are relatively cheap too. There is a larger male population than female population mostly down to the fact that Loughborough is a sports based university.

Yes all social activities were advertised by email, on boards around the canteen area or by word of mouth. I attended many socialising events during my time at 3M including a 'Curry Club' that was running, football team, work Christmas party, colleagues birthdays and other events 3M held such as firework display for Guy Fawkes night.