Placement Electrical Engineer Review

I loved my placement at Hoare Lea Manchester this Summer working as an Electrical Engineer in the Building Services team. The office had a good atmosphere and exciting projects to work on. Also being able to live in Manchester for 3 months was a great opportunity which I highly enjoyed.

I felt very valued by my colleagues as I was treated pretty much like a graduate and trusted with important work as soon as I started. I was given positive reinforcement by my colleagues and felt really welcome in my team. I became quite close with my fellow colleagues and felt very comfortable working with them.

My supervisors were really supportive usually checking up on me a few times through the day to make sure I wasn't lost within my tasks. I was often given feedback about my work and input in meetings. Asking them for help was not at all intimidating which shows how supportive they were.

I've given this 8 because I was VERY busy for 10 weeks of my 12 week placement due to two project deadlines that we had. During this time I had more than enough work to do which was exciting but also stressful coming up to the deadlines. One week I stayed until 8pm every night. By the last two weeks of my placement both of these deadlines had passed so the work was much slower but I picked up work from other teams.

I was given a lot of responsibility on my placement as I was doing similar work to other grads even though I hadn't used Revit Software before my placement but I was trusted with the Revit models of the buildings. However I would say I was given an appropriate amount of responsibility that stretched and challenged me, allowing me to learn quickly on the job without overwhelming me.

The skills I developed wont help me much in my studies other than in the softer skills for group work and professional skills as I used auto CAD and Revit software most of the time I was working which we don't actually use in my degree. However the skills I gained will be so useful during my carreer in Building Services.

The general atmosphere in the office was very pleasant, it was quite relaxed while maintaining the atmosphere of being a professional work place for when clients visited or if someone was busy they could get their head down into their work. It was also very easy to chat to people and socialise both at my desk and in the kitchen, even in working hours I would have a lot of fun just chatting with my team. The office was smartly decorated and had a roof terrace with great views of Manchester city centre.

As for structure there was formal meetings and feedback briefs that were all very well organised and happened at the right times during my placement. Its a small thing but just having my login to the intranet before I started made things go a lot smoother and showed good organisation for me, as on another placement I've done my login wasn't set up and took about a week to sort out which was frustrating. I don't have any complaints really.

There was no need to have much training as all the work was about learning on the job from live projects which I enjoyed, it didn't seem necessary to spend days training when I was only there for 3 months. I was given all the health and safety and document control training I needed as well as being invited to a few training lunches going through tasks like organising and saving emails. If I go back as a grad there is a huge training program to complete called the IMD scheme which focuses on development of appropriate skills.

Those prospects are very appealing as I will be going back there as a graduate in September as they offered me a job at the end of my placement.

There was a good social scene since there was a social sec who organises social events including two while I was there which included watching one of England's World Cup matches on one of the big screens in a meeting room and a summer social doing an activity and having drinks after work where about 30 people from the office came. It could be hard to get people to come out after work as a lot of my colleagues had children and families however people were usually keen for a social lunch time. I met up with some of my younger colleagues outside of work a few times.

Manchester can be a cheap or expensive place depending on where you live and go out. I was living in my friend's student house in Fallowfield where you can get rent for around £90 per week. The office couldn't have been more central in Manchester as its located in a converted office in the old Royal Exchange Theatre, a well known destination in Manchester because of its beautiful domes. There was expensive bars close by but also a Weatherspoons where you can get really cheap drinks.

Manchester is well known for its incredible nightlife and it really didn't disappoint. If you want a fancy bar you can go to Deansgate. Or if you prefer something more independent the Northern Quarter is jam packed with trendy bars and cafes as well as cool clubs. The Gay Village is huge and a lot of fun including Canal Street which is really famous, I went to a wonderful Ethiopian restaurant called Habesha just off of canal street which had amazing food and was so cheap! There is also a lot of nightlife going on around the Uni areas along Oxford Road eg Hatch and The Deaf Institute. There is also no end of gigs to go to, I went to one at Gorilla while I was living in Manchester.

There were the socials but also a lot of sports related activities. I went to yoga every Tuesday lunch time while I was there, and there's a lot of people who go climbing and walking together.