Offshore Wind Performance Coordinator Review

Whilst at E.ON as an Offshore Performance Coordinator I particularly enjoyed visiting sites and working on multiple projects across the business. It was rewarding and fun to work in different areas, some technical (engineering) and some data and behavior driven. The opportunity to network and visit teams in different offices also aided my professional growth.

At times, I felt very valued, in that my data driven project allowed me to deliver far-reaching procedural change across the offshore business. However the location of the role was isolating, without a team around or a line manager at hand. The decentralised nature of working with colleagues at E.ON took some time to get used to.

Professional development was a strong area of focus for my line manager, who took on a coaching role. This benefited me significantly and aided good personal growth too. However, a more emphatic support structure from line managers and HR would have helped to reduce a feeling of isolation early on.

Extremely busy! E.ON gives you the opportunity to push to take on extra projects and get involved with other teams should you wish. Sometimes I was actually too busy, which highlighted a need for better workflow management and potentially more oversight from line managers. Overall though, a lack of content was definitely not a problem, and this was a positive.

Significant responsibility - I routinely spoke to and worked with plant managers and the head of offshore operations. Although the work I carried out was never critical to daily operations, the projects that I delivered were important and added value to the business. I was given huge responsibility to manage my own workflow and structure my day - it was largely a very independent placement.

E.ON's professional registration with engineering institutions had expired by the time I joined the company, and this was a negative. HR are currently trying to restore this support structure for professional development. However, I was supported in taking a two day Microsoft Excel VBA course, which helped me to learn a new skill. I am sure this will be useful in the future.

The atmosphere at E.ON Westwood (Coventry) was often quite quiet - large sections of the office were unused. However, within my business sector employees were routinely around and this allowed me to form useful connections. Outside of this office, networking opportunities and visits to other offices were both very constructive.

The placement year had a good structure and clear deliverables, however it lacked regular enough oversight from management or a team working atmosphere. It was clear what I was expected to do, and by when, at all times - but I was very much left to my own devices to achieve these objectives.

Via a training course in VBA for Excel, which aided the development of a new skill. There were also online training courses available, a wealth of resources on different topics. E.ON also provided regular driver safety training and site-specific training, furthering a strong safety culture within the organisation across Europe.

Very appealing, as undergraduates have a clear opportunity to apply to return to the company and continue to make a difference. There is plenty of scope on offer within E.ON in terms of projects - a culture of change and entering new markets makes this a really interesting place to work.

Undergraduates and graduates in the office got lunch together daily and often socialised together outside of work, with some living together, although not everyone partook in social activities. Summer placement students tended not to socialise with the larger group as much. Strong friendships were formed by some over the course of the year.

Fairly cheap (Coventry and Birmingham) but more expensive for those who chose to live in Leamington Spa. With good travel links and a company minibus service to the nearest railway station, driving to the office wasn't required. Typically student accommodation was easily available near the office, but more choice was out there further afield.

The nightlife in Coventry wasn't enjoyed by the placement student and graduate group, who mainly chose to socialise in Leamington or get the train into Birmingham. In these areas there was more on offer, varying from student nights out in Leamington to a much wider variety in Birmingham city centre.

A football group was a regular fixture for some of the graduates and placement students, but aside from this the company didn't offer much in the way of extra-curricular involvement. Professional registration was encouraged and supported but often E.ON didn't have membership of these bodies itself. More could be done on employee lifestyle happiness.