Reseach and Development Placement Engineer Review

I very much enjoyed my year at Perkins/CAT, you work with a plethora of experienced engineers, across a wide range of possible rolls, meaning you are able to tailor the placement to what you would like to get out of it. This leads to a great environment, which simulates a great learning experience, for both engineering rolls, and technical knowledge.

As a placement you are still a well valued member of the engineering team. No thought or input is overlooked, meaning your opinion can have as much sway as anyone's.

In my first roll of 2 ( Design Engineer) I was assigned a Senior Design Engineer as my mentor, meaning at any point or time I had support/advice on tap, which was immensely useful as it was a quite complex roll. In my second roll (Validation Engineer) I worked in a very tightly knitted team where we all worked very collaboratively, and it was vital we all pass our knowledge on to one and other, meaning support was something you never had to ask as it was constantly there.

When first starting your roll the work can be slow for a week or 2, while you settle in and get to grips with the basic office running. After that you can gain as much work as you can handle, if you are not given enough work all you need to do is ask a college or manager and there is always more available.

once you show interest and your ability to pick things up your responsibilities can have no limits so long as you've shown your capability.

Through my placement experience I have picked up a wealth of invaluable knowledge. I feel like I now know what it takes to be an engineer, and have created a great starting point to start to continue growing my knowledge and skill set at university in a targeted to ensure I succeed in a real life roll.

Very good, all the people are very friendly and happy to listen to you opinions and help you out. The 'cake culture' is also a great positive.

It was very good, Perkins/CAT had clearly took time planning out all the rolls to put us in to ensure we got all we could out of the experience. The only downfall is the time you spend 'useless' while settling into you new teams/rolls when starting both your rotations.

We have been enrolled into lots of training- Simulated Work Environment, Engine Appreciation, Sigma 6 Greenbelt Training etc. They really care about your development and will supply almost any training which you request. Throughout the placement you will be introduced and then become skilled at so many different task/programs, your CV will most defiantly grow in size.

From the first day they advertise if you do well you can extend you placement, and even offer you a conditional Graduate position so long as you pass your degree with a 2:1.

There are many sports teams/clubs to sign up to. I go for coffee & drinks with colleagues every other week. I spend most weekend going out/hanging out with the other placement in Peterborough. The only down side is the company location being in Peterborough which doesn't have the most thriving youth culture.

There are some alright bars/restaurants/clubs in the city centre. By no means the most exciting city to be in. But I feel like with the good wage reasonable cheap accommodation, more than makes up for it.

There are some alright bars/restaurants/clubs in the city centre. But with good friends and many drinks it can make for a great night out,

Peterborough has plenty of facilities for you to be able to get involved in basically anything your heart desires.