Undergraduate Engineer Review

The placement was interesting from understanding the business, however the work was not always enjoyable and a lot of it was more of administrative tasks that would not require and engineering degree to complete and therefore got a bit tedious and boring. Overall I would have preferred to continue at university rather then take the year out to study as I do not believe it will help me in the future unless I was to return to the same company once graduating.

The work given was mainly in support of other colleagues work and therefore it was appreciated by the person you were completing the work for. In terms of feeding upwards in the management chain, the work appreciation stopped at my immediate supervisor.

On 2 out of three of the placements I was given support and guidance, however one of the placements support structure was appalling and I was generally left to my own devices. the positive of this is that I learnt very quickly to complete work independently without much input and support from others.

For at least 2 hours every day I struggled to find work, and therefore resorted to document reading. I felt the workload I was given over 5 days could easily be condensed into 3 days due to the amount of wasted time and lack of tasks. When in a quiet period I approached senior engineers and line managers for work to be told they didn't have anything for me. I think to be so dismissive of someone is not the best motto in a workplace and would have enjoyed the placement more if I had always had work to do.

The small tasks I was given were tasks that needed to be completed and therefore not completing them would have had an impact on whatever project they contributed to - therefore there was some responsibility given to ensure tasks were complete. However overall the significance of the tasks was not that great in comparison to the size of a project.

I developed my confidence and communications skills more as well as acquiring a very professional manner. All of these skills are very transferrable to other job roles. However in terms of technical content, I didn't cover anything that would contribute towards my degree and didn't use any of the knowledge I have already learnt so far in my degree.

Some offices were quieter than others. One office was very isolated in terms of communicating with others outside of the team, despite being in a room with over 50 desks. Another office was very informal and friendly.

The placements were structures really well and it was clear from the start what was expected of you in terms of how many placements you had to undertake and how long they needed to last. However, most of the time the early careers manager was hard to contact.

A part from on the job training within the team, no formal training courses were undertaken whilst at the organisation.

I would consider other employment prospects and try to seek alternative employment in the future, however I would return to the company if other opportunities don't arise.

Generally over summer when there are other interns as well as the year placement interns the social scene is good. However during the rest of the year the social scene isn't as good due to the small number of interns with the organisation when the summer interns are not here too.

I reside in this area full time, even whilst at university, and the cost of living is average for the area. There are some cheaper parts and some more expensive parts depending on what it is your looking for. Generally everything is very affordable and there is enough to do to stay entertained at evenings and weekends.

There is a wide range of things to do from pubs and clubs to late night laser tag and escape room. there are nice restaurants in the city centre and surrounding areas.

There wasn't really any opportunities to get involved with that the organisation offered that wasn't business related.