Structures placement student Review

The work involved a great range of different pieces of work for me to get involved in. I learnt a great deal by being pushed to attempt problems that you would never encounter in a civil engineering degree.

Although my integration into the team felt a bit slow to begin with I was given a huge amount of responsibility straight away. Although this was a bit daunting at first it enables me to challenge myself and play an integral part in some of the design.

If I ever had a question (and there were many!) then I was given plenty of time to discuss my problems by mentors. However it would have been good to set goals for myself over the 8 week period and to have an occasional meeting away from the desk.

I was given a perfect balance of work and although it was important I never felt pressured by the team to commit extra hours or time to the work I was involved with.

I was given a large amount of responsibility that enables me to learn a huge amount!

So far I have used a lot of the skills I learnt for my design project in my final year. On our university course there is a lot of technical learning that you don't often get to apply to an actual structure so that was a great experience.

There was a great friendly atmosphere among staff however it would have been nice to have some more social clubs to get involved in.

The placement was well organised however it was a bit disconcerting at first as the member of staff I was supposed to meet at the office was not there due to illness. There didn't seem to be a back up plan and therefore I didn't get the proper office introduction until a couple of weeks into the placement.

I was given a huge amount of time by the staff and was able to go on a couple of site visits to enhance my learning.

Future prospects are very appealing. This is by far the best internship I have had over the course of my study and I would recommend it whole heartedly!

Everyone was very social and we went for drinks a few times during my placement although it would have been nice to have some other social clubs to get involved in - sport for example.

Although close the office things were expensive there are plenty of deals to be had in the centre of Manchester!

I only went out with the group once on my placement but is fair to say I had a good time!

There were not many social events organised by the office. See above.