Electrical and Electronic Engineering Placment Review

Dstl was a very enjoyable company to complete a placement with. The work was unique and varied, and I felt like a valued member of the team from the start.

I made some great friends over the year. Colleagues were always happy to help me out and develop my skills. They also listened to any ideas I put forward and treated me as a valuable team member.

As well as having my line manager/ team leader to guide me professionally through my placement, Dstl has a casual group of previous students which are always free for a chat about day to day life both inside and outside of work.

I worked on various projects over the course of the year which each had their busy periods and their lulls, but at no point did I feel overworked or bored.

I was given the lead role on one of my work packages where I would report to the project manager and a 'technical lead', but the research, design, development and progress of the work was trusted to me.

I picked up some invaluable technical skills over the year which are already proving beneficial in my third year University modules. Extra skills including how to present myself in customer meetings and the experience of working in an advanced technical workplace have given me some preparation for once I graduate as well.

My office was a casual, yet professional environment to work in. The colleagues were easy to ask for assistance and joke with and I was sad to be leaving at the end of the placement.

I was put in touch with other students before my placement started so I could sort out accommodation. The team I was placed had set aside a coupe of small projects for me which they used to judge my skill level before I was placed within larger projects groups.

I was developed hugely by my colleagues and by the work I was given to do. Extensive training programmes seemed to be reserved for graduates at the company though.

I will definitely be applying for a summer placement with them before going into my final year of University and I have also been guaranteed a place at an assessment centre for Dstl's graduate scheme.

Every placement student and graduate was part of a Facebook chat meaning there were plenty of pub, cinema, and bowling trips and anything else you could persuade someone else to get involved in. There were also regular team pub lunches if you wanted to get out of the office for a couple of hours.

Living on the Greater London/ Kent boarder meant costs were similar to where I'm at University in Bath. Accommodation was about £100 a week but there were house-shares/ lodgings going cheaper.

Bromley was just a 5 minute train ride away and you could be in the centre of London within half an hour so plenty of nightlife around.