Hardware Engineer Review

The placement was a great learning experience and I certainly realised how much I had grown toward the end. I enjoyed the variety of work greatly, being able to do bits of work for other departments and not being tied to my function (engineering) widened my developing skillset. It wasn't as stressful as university!

From day 1 we were always told we were going into a real job with real responsibilities, as such we were treated as peers by our colleagues, and often our opinions were sought and valued. This also meant there was a degree of accountability associated with our work. The site I worked at was much smaller, and so the atmosphere and working relationships were a lot tighter, there wouldn't be a week where someone hadn't bought in donuts/cakes or treats to share.

As we were part of an intern program, there were multiple training sessions throughout the year, focusing on soft skills (as many of us were from different functions). Managers were always willing to give feedback, and we had several 121s and personal development reports to complete during the year. If you aren't afraid to ask questions, then you almost certainly will find the answers you are looking for, or at least some guidance toward them, colleagues have been very accommodating of the barrage of technical questions and will impart on some industry knowledge in addition to this. The support isn't overarching either, you do get a degree of independence and can ask to travel to different sites/work in different departments as needed (or if workload permits).

This mainly depends on function, some will have tasks that need to be completed daily relating to administration (e.g. HR), and others involved in projects will have intense periods of work as well as lulls as is in the nature of a project. This does mean however that you will have periods of time to take up other work, sometimes you will be given it, other times you will have to ask around for it. Some days would have back to back meetings, and other times there would be dry spells of several days without a meeting, learning how to work around this was key.

I was given ownership of a project, and as manager it was my responsibility to ensure the project made progress, I would have to liaise with different team members, chase for updates and push for decisions to be made, so the project was very much dependent on me as a facilitator although I did have the support of my manager throughout. Other projects I was involved in was where I was either a contributor, or carried out independent projects where the entirety of the work depended on me, as such I had to meet my own deadlines and produce work regularly.

The knowledge I gained of industry is exceptionally helpful in terms of getting products from design to final production, this gave me an insight into the possible problems that occur, what to look out for and how intensive validation needs to be. I also carried out a number of presentations, leading meetings and will be mentoring the next intern, as such I have developed a lot of soft skills in addition to technical experience. University provided me with a technical background and understanding, and the placement helped me to find how to apply it and where it was relevant. A lot of the organisational skills and documentation techniques I will use to carry out my final year project.

In my department, as there were several engineers, the atmosphere was a quite one in general, although due to there also being some interns, secretary and graduate there was also occasional banter and laughs which meant that it was also very relaxed. In general the working environment at the site was quite relaxed.

As the internship was part of the company program, it was very well organised and structured. With many meetings with the placement director and development reports to fill out, the placement built up to a final presentation where at the end of the year we would present our year and work in industry to an audience of employees, many high level, from different sites. We also carried out project work with other interns, both at our site and other sites, and would also attend training sessions at other sites. At the start of the placement there was a handover period where the previous interns would mentor us on the work we will be picking up on.

A lot of the training programs were delivered by a partner company that specialised in them, and we also discovered what our personal working profiles were like.

As the organisation is a global one, and due to the graduate program, there is a lot of opportunity for employment and development, both abroad and in the UK to work in different sectors.

As there were several interns, and many students from the same university, it was quite a comfortable atmosphere with occasional attendance to do sports, activities etc.

As the site I worked at was located outside the city, I commuted back and forth by bus, however where I lived the cost was relatively reasonable with the added benefits of several amenities in walking distance.

Nightlife in the next city was a lot better, and was only 10 minutes by train.

Although there were some, I didn't endeavour to pursue them.