industrial placement student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my year placement with Kier. I was offered the opportunity to spend 6 months on site and 6 months in one of Kier's design offices as I wanted to gain an understanding of both contracting and consulting. On site I really enjoyed the team spirit and nature of working with members of the contracting team and other subcontractors and seeing the project take shape and my second 6 months gave me the opportunity to see the design work that goes in before anything takes place on site.

I felt well valued at Kier as I spoke to a number of senior members of staff who took the time to pass advice on and appreciate the job I was doing. I was part of a young team and my managers made me feel valued and like the work I was doing was to a good standard and of use to the project.

I was given extensive advice by members of senior management about my career who helped give me career advice and look beyond just the next working day. They also pushed me to talk about my weaknesses and look at ways to improve them and made me feel comfortable in the work environment

While on site I was made busy and my line manager told me that he would keep giving me work until I told him that I wasnt able to take any more on which put the responsibility on myself to balance my workload which helped me to become more independent.

From my first day I was given more responsibility than I ever thought I would. This is something I felt I needed to make me take the leap and develop more confidence, both personally and professionally. This often lead to me making mistakes but these became quick learning curves which helped me to get the most out of my time with Kier.

My placement enabled me to better understand the construction industry and the processes involved within it. It also gave me the opportunity to significantly improve my computer aided design (CAD) skills which will massively aid the remainder of my degree. As well as this, my confidence in social situations dramatically improved which will help my ability to communicate as part of my degree.

The general office atmosphere was relatively quiet but friendly, meaning I felt that I could talk to anyone about a problem. It was an open-desked office which meant I was able to openly talk and listen to conversations with other team members to pick up information and advice from them.

The placement was very well organised as after Kier's HR department had come to interview me at my university, they were very well accommodating to organise a split placement for me, spending time at two different offices. I also had open discussions about whether the company would take me on or the processes involved in the next stage of my employment/career.

Kier gave me many opportunities to go on relevant courses, including health and safety, sustainability, first aid training and relevant site specific equipment training. I also had one-to-one meetings with senior staff about my personal development, where we outlined goals in order to help me progress both professionally and personally.

I am very keen to work for Kier again as part of a summer placement and future graduate employment. They often offer to sponsor students for the remainder of their degree in return for commitment to work for them. Speaking with other graduates, the starting graduate salary is competitve and if working on site then you are offered a company car which would be a very appealing offer.

There were a number of apprentices, graduates, placement students that I worked along side who I got on very well with. We had regular 5-a-side football games and there were often socials. Working alongside other placement students was very reassuring to talk through any issues or work queries with someone in a similar situation.

Relatively cheap cost of living in house share accommodation. Because the majority of staff were living away from home there was a reasonable amount of socialising during the week but none on the weekends. Prices were a little more expensive in the middle of the town and near the airport.

Relatively good being close to the trainline into London and in a fairly large town. I worked with a relatively young workforce who were like minded in wanting to experience the nightlife, even if it was a little expensive to go out and travel into Luton town.

There were a few opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. Included in these were 5 a side football which was open for anyone as well as badminton as part of the multiple local gyms. The longer hours of the job did often limit the number of opportunities for activities or mean that you were not that keen to get involved in many activities