Product Solutions Engineer Review

I enjoyed working for such a large organisation during my Year in Industry, it provided a useful insight into the working world and everyone I worked with (my team, colleagues in the wider business and the other Undergraduates) was friendly and approachable. I was able to learn a huge amount in my time here, from our product offerings to agile ways of working.

During my time here I was made to feel like part of the team and was able to be involved in the day to day running of the business. I was given real responsibility to own and deliver tasks and my colleagues actively asked for feedback on work, this allowed me to further my understanding of the company and gain an insight into other areas.

I had quarterly reviews with my Managers as well as multiple mentors across the business, this helped to develop me both personally and professionally and allowed me to seek out multiple opinions for any challenges I faced. They were keen to help prepare me for my future working life as well as ensuring I contributed to the team.

My working day normally ran from 07:45 to 16:15 and I found these hours went by very quickly. I was involved with the operational side of the business as well as working to achieve longer term objectives such as ensuring our offerings aligned to customer needs, including delivering new products.

From the start of my placement I was responsible for creating and implementing a new tool, as well as setting up a working relationship with external companies. This led to me independently completing technical reviews and installer audits as well as being responsible for the delivery of new product offerings.

My approach to tasks has developed significantly over my time with E.ON, I have experience planning a customer journey as well as discussing potential obstacles, this has highlighted the importance of planning. Furthermore I chose to attend an introductory course to Finance in order to gain a more rounded understanding of the running of a business.

My team was very positive and supporting throughout my time here. At the start of my placement I sat with each team member to gain an understanding of the dynamics of the team as well as each members roles. I enjoyed working with every member and will miss them. I hope to have the opportunity to work with them again in the future.

My placement was very educational and (mostly) enjoyable. However the interactions from HR and the structure of the scheme in general was not very good. I experienced limited and rushed encounters with HR and there was no consistency between my placement and those of the other Engineering Undergraduates. I feel as though having key goals across all technical placements would benefit future Undergraduates.

I had time and effort invested in me by my managers and mentors over the year, from help with my CV to preparation for assessment centres and interviews. However the support from HR was not quite as good as I had hoped and I did not get the opportunity to attend any official training courses over the year.

The reduction in the number of places on the Graduate schemes in general (particularly Engineering) means that any future I my have expected to have in this company is in doubt. The future of the schemes are uncertain and the technical positions that would require this scheme are also being reduced.

Most of the other Undergraduates were based at other offices (such as Coventry), therefore I had limited interaction with them until the latter stages of my placement. However the interactions I had with them were good, there was a range of backgrounds as well as Universities and they were all very nice.

I lived at home for the year, however may daily commute was an 85 mile round trip. This, in addition to the cost of a car and insurance made the year quite expensive for me. However living in Nottingham could have potentially saved me some money in terms of fuel.

I was based in Mansfield (just North of Nottingham), this can be quite isolated, however Nottingham itself has a large student population and a range of bars/clubs that I enjoyed going to during my time here. Despite living in at home for the year I was still able to attend team nights out.