Undergraduate Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my undergraduate placement year in MBDA. My placement was within the Electronics department, this allowed me to interact with a wide variety of different functions and disciplines and allowed me to explore a lot of different tasks and challenges. The wide and varied amount of specialities and skill set made for a very enjoyable environment.

I felt highly valued by my colleges during my time at MBDA. I was always doing real world work and at no point did I feel a job had been made specifically for me as the undergrad. However at times I did feel that none of the work I was given was ever very cooperative or within a team as most of the work I did during my placement was individual.

My manager and supervisors where always available to give support, provided that the weren't overly busy themselves witch was prone to happen from time to time. However due to the nature of the department and the sub group I was placed in this was to be expected and as soon as free time was found support and guidance where available. However guidance didn't have to just come from a manager or supervisor, MBDA has and incredibly friendly community feel allowing for help to be sought from any member of the team, department or any other person who may know how to help you. MBDA also offers a buddy scheme that allows newer employees to have a buddy (more experienced employee) who they can discuss ant matter at all with.

Day to day the amount of work could vary dramatically. some days it would be non-stop work throughout the day with new tasks suddenly appearing as the need arouse from other projects and functions leaving you feeling thoroughly rush at the end of the day. At other times the work load could drop off to almost none with several members in the team in the same position waiting for a new project or need to come along. This was partially to be expected as with most projects MBDA work on being incredibly complex with many teams departments and countries working on each.

During the placement I was given a lot of responsibility. Firstly I was put in charge of the production and manufacturing of a brand new test set to be used in the testing of current and future projects. I was in charge of all aspects other than securing funding (as this had been done prior to my joining the company) from product selection to the first tests done on the finished product. Secondly I was tasked with a more complicated test set that I ran from the beginning securing funding from the customer and managers to then testing and checking within a very constraining and controlled environment.

Many of the skills I developed at MBDA are highly valuable moving forward. I have greatly improved confidence in my own abilities and skills, while improving on them. I also feel that I have gained a very valuable insight into how large businesses operate and the expectations they have in reports and other official documentation.

Within the office the general atmosphere was always incredibly friendly and open. At all time you felt that you could walk over to anyone and ask for help or advice if needed. At times this would be lessened if upon trying to access another office using your ID only to find you don't have permission ( The restriction of movement in MBDA was due to the nature of work done at the company and the security this entailed) this sometime made you feel as if you were not trusted to move around autonomously.

Overall the organisation of the work placement was good. However from meetings held with other undergraduates within MBDA this seems to vary heavily depending on what department or even team within department you are placed with for the placement. This is mainly due to the organization of placement being organized by the specific department or team heads.

As an undergraduate there was a distinctive lack of training compared to that of the graduates. During the first month of working for MBDA the was a FDP (Formal Development Programme) event that lasted a week that's aim was to introduce us the other new intake as well as give the general expectations and ideals of the company. Other than this and a one day ESD training course that I had solely because it was required for my job there was no other training or development options. On the other hand the graduates had full access to a wide a varied range of training courses and other options, several other FDP events and activities aimed to improve their overall skills as well as moving placements every 6months to ensure new skills and possibility's.

MBDA is a multinational company with opportunities in many fields and disciplines. The give the opportunity to work on and with some of the most cutting edge technology. Personally I think the prospect of future employment with MBDA to be very enticing. Although to work with the technology there is always at least twice as much time spent on supporting paperwork.

MBDA has several social and sporting clubs ranging from rock climbing and shooting all the way to theatre trips. Amongst the other students there was also a very good social scene with many planed trips and outings. Although the majority of these where either rock climbing trips or clubbing there was a good variety.

As MBDA is located in Stevenage and relatively close to London the cost of living is relatively high but not as bad as some other London satellite towns. The costs of living and renting in the area do show that your close to the capital, this is made worse by a lack of housing in the area causing a lot of employees to commute from quite some distance.

In Stevenage and its surrounding towns there is a healthy nightlife with many options available.

MBDA offered many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. There were often several planed theatre or attraction trips such as theme parks every month. As well as a large number of sporting clubs ranging from Running to Tae Kwon Do. The atmosphere at these events was always very friendly.