Student Engineer Review

I really enjoyed the placement as I was offered loads of support and given a large amount of responsibility

My colleagues saw me as a valuable member of the team. I was given lots of responsibility and relied upon in time pressured situations

I always had support from management and supervisors and was even relied upon by principal engineers in doing work with a sub contractor

It's long busy days but everyday I felt like my skills and confidence grew and developed

I was concerned about not being valued but instead felt at times I was being pushed to the max in responsibility. I thrive on pressure so this suited me perfectly

Working on site showed me how to apply many things in my degree but I also developed skills for the future that I wouldn't manage to learn in my degree making me a more valuable candidate in the future

The atmosphere was great, the support between the placement students was great and I've stayed in touch since the summer. They're was regular social events and even a weekly football kick about involving several teams.

I had regular communication leading up to the placement and due to the security clearances and CSCS test I had plenty of support with preparing. On arrival I had almost a week given over to inductions and then shadowing others and learning my role. My only fustration was how late my interview was being after summer exams but in some ways it was even more exciting to be excepted

I was given central training sessions via video sessions every week as well as site specific training weekly. Along with these sessions I attended several CPD sessions focused on my teams such as a talk by a Hitli representative. being at Hinkley they're was also training given on using new technology in construction and about nuclear safety culture

The progression pathways in the company are clearly set out and offer brilliant opportunities. They offer a good amount of flexibility about future placements and jobs across the country. There are plenty of perks to the grad programme and speaking to grads they really enjoying their time

Prior to starting my placement I was put in contact with other summer placement students so was able to discuss plans for accommodation and other pre arrival requirements. While on placement I stayed at the same accommodation and therefore spent almost every evening socialising with them be it playing football or going to the campus bar for a drink

Working at Hinkley point for a short period I made use of the campus accommodation. By travelling home at weekends the living allowance covered my accommodation and included breakfast and dinner. the bar at the campus was reasonably priced but sociallising outside of the campus was difficult due to the remoteness of the site.

Bridgewater is not the best town for night life but I did have a couple of nice meals and social events including go karting and curry nights. Staying at the Hinkley campus accommodation did mean getting to social events could be a challenge and if I was on a longer placement I would have looked at staying in Taunton in shared accommodation

Due to the length of the placement I didn't have a lot of time to get involved with extra activities but there were many events put on by the Hinkley site and Laing O'Rourke that I could have got involved in had I been there longer