Undergraduate Optimisation Engineer Review

It has been a very good placement. I have been able to learn about the many different business areas that E.On cover. Along with large amounts of freedom in the role to expand my knowledge and develop myself both in a professional and personal way. Overall been a very enjoyable experience.

Despite being an undergraduate I felt valued by every person I worked with. My actual team always valued my opinion and would ask me for advice on problems to gain fresh insights. I was also tasked with projects by my colleagues to help them which was always valued and appreciated by all team members.

My manager was great and very approachable with any issues I had. They were very supportive in my professional development and guiding me to different opportunities for me to get a full experience of the energy industry. My supervisors were all very accessible and helped me with any problems or queries I had with the work which was very useful when I was starting to learn about new aspects of power production which I had not come across in University.

Each day was different in terms of how busy I was. There were days when I would be completely run off my feet and others when I was sat there bored with nothing to do. In order to fully succeed during the down time I ensured that I spent the time looking for development areas and finding projects with colleagues in the wider business to get involved with to keep me busy.

I was given huge amounts of responsibility during my placement. This made me feel like a valued member of the team. I was in charge of several projects which has key importance to the business. With one of my projects becoming a number one priority for the team and business due to the identified savings.

I have developed very broad engineering skills. These won't be much use in the University setting during my degree however are completely invaluable when I look for a job in the future. I was always placed on project management training which will be crucial in the future when looking at an engineering based job as I have really enjoyed engineering projects.

The atmosphere at the head office in my opinion is pretty dull. I did try to avoid working here as I did not find the atmosphere very productive. Despite this the atmosphere in the other offices that I worked from were fantastic and I really enjoyed them. I also know that other placement students had different experiences in the office I worked from (WW).

I would say that the placement was organised ok. There was a lot of emphasis on me finding my own projects and of all the projects I worked on only one was slightly related to my degree which was a shame. Despite this I did enjoy the freedom but there could definitely be some better organisation.

The main training I received this year was my PMQ which now makes me an accredited project manager. This was a qualification I really wanted to get out of this year as I enjoyed project work. Overall as a company they are very keen to develop placement students. There are also plenty of free courses provided online which helped develop myself.

As a placement student you get to fast track to the assessment centre for the graduate scheme. This is great as it means you stand a better chance of getting a job as graduate at the company. With the E.On expanding into new areas and the work diversifying there are plenty of appealing prospects within E.On.

The social scene was fantastic. Most community days (days where all the placement students have a day together to learn about the business and each others roles) had a social event either prior to or after the day. This gave placement students the opportunity to socialise. Furthermore with colleagues when I worked away there were always opportunities to eat together in hotels etc.

Coventry as a city is reasonably priced. It is about average with the rest of the UK.

Coventry is definitely the best night out in all of the UK. If you are looking for a cheap swift pint while playing a game of pool Flannaleys would be highly recommended. If you are looking for a sing along with Coventrys local musical talents head to the Town Crier. If you want a nightclub with pub prices with cheesy music gaurenteed head to Daddy's Cools. If you want the largest smoking area in all of the world ft. a BBQ head to Kasbah (The Collie if you want to sound like a local). Scholars is your standard overpriced nightclub.