NMUK Industrial Placement Student - Software Engineer at Nissan UK Review

I have really enjoyed my placement. It has been a great introduction to working in the industry and has by far been the most enjoyable year of my degree so far. I strongly recommend doing a placement to anyone.

I have been given real responsibility and am a valued member of my team. This is in part due to a shortage in skilled developers but also due to management truly valuing placements. There is no real difference between me and any other employee (other than the salary).

Although managers and supervisors are verbally very supportive and helpful, not much in terms of actual support has been provided. I have been okay with this as I had regular contact with team members to discuss issues/learn from but a lack of scheduled training might be an issue for some.

I have been very busy. I am largely free to choose what I work on and have a constant backlog of tasks to work through. There is not much pressure to complete these tasks so it's up to me to put the work in, which has been very rewarding.

I have been given a large amount of responsibility as I have worked on the same projects as every other dev in the team, and can largely choose what particular projects/tasks to focus on each day. Management is fairly hands off but permission is still required for some things.

I have been very fortunate in my team to work closely with other experienced devs/project managers and have learned a great deal from them. However this varies greatly depending on the team, and no formal training was provided. Despite this I feel very prepared for industry after this placement, and am hoping to bring the work ethic I developed here into my final year.

The office is an open and relaxed environment. Everyone is very approachable and willing to offer help/have a quick chat. Development staff have now moved to another office so this may not be the case in the future. Placements regularly see each other/meet up outside of work so the social life has been great too!

The application process was organised and easy, an online video interview then a relaxed assessment centre. The induction was largely helpful and enjoyable, though this may not be the same in the future as much of the induction was provided by previous placements.

The firm did not provide any training (other than the induction by previous placements). This is the only negative I can think of from my time here and in my case was not an issue as I sat opposite an experienced developer whom I could ask for help.

Employment prospects are limited at the moment due to the tough time the car industry is currently going through, but normally placements would be expected to apply and relatively seamlessly join the grad scheme.

Yes, I have made friends with all of the placements in my department and many in others, we regularly go out/meet up outside of work. We all sit together at lunch and will definitely remain friends after we leave.

Very cheap (compared to the south). Travelling may be an issue without a car (limited to bus travel to the plant).

very good (Newcastle is famous for this no?)

There was talk of some allowance for charity work but no more information has been provided. My team had a couple of work nights out (bowling/mini golf) which were fun, but limited.