Cryogenic Equipment Engineer

The placement was a good opportunity to gain insight into the industrial gases sector. I had the opportunity to get involved in a wide variety of tasks and also to be involved in outreach activities to promote STEM subjects. I learned a lot from this placement year and was able to undertake varying levels of difficult tasks

My colleagues were kind and were both extremely willing to help me out in situations where I needed guidance and also to come to me regarding tasks or situations that I had worked on that they needed help with. I had a good working relationship with everyone based at my site as well as those in my team

My manager had a good balance of giving me support and guidance from the start of the placement year to help me learn my role better and also leaving me to research and self teach content that I may need for extra background information. I was also taught role specifics from field experts

The amount of work would vary widely with certain times throughout the year being extremely busy without stopping but there were also times that I felt that I was constantly asking for work to do or that I was sitting around bored without much to work on. This potentially could have been managed slightly better

I felt that the tasks I was assigned were mine completely and that I was able to choose the working times to ensure the job was finished. The level of these tasks were also quite important and certain projects I worked on and completed were used around the world for the company

The skills that I learnt were industry specific and not really related to my degree in any way. The generic skills such as time management, communication and teamwork were able to be practiced but I don’t have any modules in my degree that relate to my job in cryogenics or air separation

I was based in the Basingstoke office and the people there were extremely pleasant and funny and made sure that everyone was involved and had a good time working there. Conversation over lunch time was easy and there was a really good sense of community as everyone knew everyone and was willing to have a chat

The main issue I had with the placement setup was that I was not officially employed by Air Products. Air Products employed us through a contractor who outsourced payment to an umbrella agency who then charged unreasonable employment costs without explanation so we didn’t get the salary that we were advertised. We didn’t have an option to not use this umbrella agency

My manager invested in me a lot making sure that I was not overwhelmed and that I was doing ok. They have given me many skills that will be useful if I make the decision to go into the industrial gases sector. I was encouraged to practice outreach and speaking skills through STEM events

I have not heard as of yet whether or not I will be offered a job with the company but there is a high chance that I would accept the job offer should I receive it. The graduate scheme is well planned and useful in the development of myself as an engineer

The Basingstoke office did not have a large community of students and grads and the is not much to do in Basingstoke other than go to pubs. However the students that were in Basingstoke were quite close and so there were often trips to the pub after work and social events organised

Basingstoke is a very expensive town to live in. The rent cost is very high due to the proximity of Basingstoke to London and drinks were on average quite pricey. The supermarkets were not overly expensive for food but gym memberships and extra activities were costly. Restaurants are also expensive

There is one nightclub called fever which is quite small and seems to have mainly younger attendees around the age of 18-20. There were not really many young professionals and the other bars tended to be older people around the age of 40. The best option for nightlife would be to travel elsewhere

There are some sports clubs and gyms that could be joined however the joining fees and membership fees made it unreasonable for a student like myself to join more than one activity. The quality of these clubs were also not at the level that I would have preferred to continue my training