Summer Placement Civil Engineer Review

A mostly very enjoyable placement. Colleagues from both Costain and other companies were friendly and helpful. I usually had plenty to do and a variety of tasks throughout. Pay and expenses were fairly generous and there was a good balance between office and on site work. I was always treated well and my work valuable, the majority of what was going on was interesting. However, hours were quite long and there were some very busy moments combined with some long periods with little to do but these are minor complaints.

My contributions were always valued and taken into account. People were grateful for the work I did. I was given my fair share of quite basic tasks but people recognised when this was the case and were apologetic; I didn't mind as it was all work which had to be done. When I was given more difficult work what I produced was generally praised and helpful criticisms for improvement provided.

There was good support from my eventual line manager. However, it took a little time to settle with him as my manager as I was passed along in my first few weeks. I was given work to do, provided with information and resources and my manager was always available if I had questions. I think I could have had some more active help with some administrative things, such as IT and various sources I had to complete but I'm not sure this was my managers job.

I was mostly kept busy and if work did tail off there were usually things I could find to do. Although sometimes this meant doing less interesting tasks. There were times where I had lots of things going on at once but I always felt I could manage. I work quite quickly so the balance was probably about right although I think I could have done a little more.

To start with I was mostly in an observing, learning role because I had little experience of construction and the railway but as the placement progressed I was given more and more responsibility and ended up designing a section of our work and leasing with other companies without much external input at all. I think the level of responsibility I was given was about right, as I went from feeling well supported at the start to just pushing where I felt comfortable at the end.

Whilst very little of what I did related to my first (or probably second) year of study it provided me with valuable insight into industry and particularly health and safety and commercial practices. I think what I did will become more relevant later in my degree and I did do some design,drawing and a little structural mechanics towards the end of the placement.

Good level of banter amongst everyone. People were helpful and approachable, although sometimes more senior people were hard togged hold of which is understandable. Always volunteers available for making tea our coffee and there was a relaxed atmosphere. Office tended to empty in the afternoon and only Costain people were left.

I think more could have been done in advance to speed up the first few weeks. It took a long time to get a laptop sorted and there were various courses I wasn't made aware I had to complete until I arrived. However, once everything had got underway everything I needed was in place.

I think Costain have invested heavily in me. I was well paid for a start and have completed some expensive training courses to do with construction and working on the railway. I think there is a strong opportunity to do further work with Costain and even have some funding during university.

Costain seems to be a company that values its employees and has a good setup for graduates. Pay is good (though not outstanding) and there are good, expenses, pension and healthcare set ups. It is involved in lots of interesting work and seems to be in a song position.

There was only one other placement student but my other colleagues were mostly family young and friendly. I went out with people from work one night which was fun and I could have done more if I had wanted to. There was also opportunities to play football etc after work but I lived quite along way away so opted not to.

I lived at home so my only real expense was travel which I was given a decent allowance for and could claim business related expenses.

Only a short train away from London, so pretty good.

A few but generally work took up most of the time.