Technical Specialist (Placement) Review

I greatly enjoyed my placement. 1 year is both a long time, and no time at all. I learned what would be expected of me in the workplace and I was given ample opportunities to hone my strengths as well as work on my weaknesses,

I felt that I was a part of the team from Day 1. Everyone around me were more than willing to teach me the ropes and help me become comfortable in my new role. I was also given responsibility for work that had great value not only to my team, but to the organisation as a whole.

I could not have asked for more supportive supervisors. They allowed me my independence when working on my assigned projects, but were always available whenever I required guidance or support. Even beyond my work, they would encourage me to take up new opportunities that would stretch my abilities and build my confidence. Because of this, I was able to meet many people within and outside the business and really build a network around myself.

I was busy on a daily basis, but much of this is dependent on your initiative. On this placement it is possible to get by on minimal work but this will lead to a rather boring and stagnant year. There is much work to do and being able to put yourself in a place that will allow you to become involved in these exciting and innovative projects is a skill that will not only help you on this placement but well beyond it.

I was given all of the responsibility I could have asked for. The projects I was responsible for were interesting, challenging and (arguably most importantly) necessary and important to the business. When presenting my work to senior managers, I was able to confidently say 'I have achieved this, I was in charge of this, I produced this' and I could be proud of my achievements.

The skills I developed are not going to help me with differentiation, heat transfer equations or CATIA/AutoCAD/SolidWorks (whichever you prefer) but they are going to be skills that I will use during my final year and beyond most definitely. I have built a network within the industry, made many friends within the other Industrial placement students, improved my communication and presentation skills and built a special kind of confidence you can only gain through hard work and experience.

The office I was based in wasn't the best to be honest, a little old, could do with a bit of love. However it was being renovated just as I left (2016) so the atmosphere will be much better. My placement allowed me a LOT of national travel however, and so much of my time was spent in many other offices that were first to be renovated. The atmosphere in every office I worked in was fantastic though, because of the people. Everyone was friendly to each other and happy to be there.

Very well. Reviews were often and opportunities to learn about other areas of the business were plentiful.

Very appealing. The grad scheme is one of the best in the country and I can see many opportunities for myself to grow and move up within the company.

Yes, though this will of course depend on the other placement students. We were based all over the country which could have made things rather difficult but we often set up social events ourselves and always made each other aware of opportunities around the business. We also used our different bases as a good excuse to visit each other and learn about different areas of the business and industry.

Based in Birmingham, though you could be anywhere. As such, things were rather expensive but using spareroom.com, I was able to find a relatively inexpensive place to live that was close to the office. I enjoyed my area though, work was close to the city centre and there was always something to do. Shopping and Eating was fantastic, as well as events.

Great. Can't complain at all.

Yes, in fact it was recommended and almost expected.