Summer Student Review

Thoroughly enjoyed my placement. Opportunity to work on a variety of projects like I was an engineer. I was treated the same as everyone else in the office despite being a placement student. My university learning was well consolidated and I got the opportunity to go on site as well.

I felt valued amongst my colleagues. I was treated the same as everyone else in the office despite being a placement student. I was also included in office socials and everyone was very friendly in my team, this made it easier to approach people if I needed help on what I was working on.

I was given a lot of support from my colleagues when I needed it. I often was asked if I needed any help, which was good as I didn't feel as if I was disturbing someone. I was provided training for a computer program that I had not used before.

Most days were busy. During the first couple of weeks I was occupied with training modules, health & safety and introduction to the business tasks. Once I was given work on projects the days were busy working towards these. In the last week I wasn't so busy as I had handed over projects I'd been working on.

I was given moderate responsibility. On the projects I worked on I was responsible for drawings, however these were checked (like always) before they were sent off. I was able to work on my own section of a project rather than helping someone else out on what they were doing.

It was a very good consolidation of the content I'd learnt during my first year at university. The skills I developed were tailored towards an office environment and I'm sure they will come useful in the future. My time management was tested, and learning how to deal with this will again be helpful in the future.

Within my team it was always kept fun. Everyone would talk to each other, we would regularly bring in food to share and things like a puzzle would be brought in during lunch time for people to enjoy. There were also a variety of social activities (e.g badminton and group meals) organised to keep the atmosphere happy.

My placement was organised okay but there was room for improvement. My mentor wasn't very accommodating to my travel time between the office I was given, despite finding out when I arrived that I could work from a different office during my placement when needed. I also had to contact my mentor multiple times to find the final details of my placement (time of arrival, who to report to etc) and I eventually found this out a couple of days before I started.

I was given a brief on chartership and how I could work towards it on my placement. I was provided templates and talked through what steps I would be able to fill out when, what events to look out for and who I could contact if I had any queries.

My future prospects are good with the employer. I have secured placements with them for the next two summers and hopefully I should get an offer to joined them at the end of my degree based on the grade I achieve at the end. Although in my contract it is not stated that they have to give me an offer of employment.

The social side of the office was good, particularly in my team, as many events were often organised by my fellow colleagues. The events ranged from playing badminton, golf, going out for dinner and going out for drinks. Everyone in the team was always invited to the events and sometimes other teams would be invited too.

I'm not entirely sure on the cost of living in the area as I commuted in. however, from fellow colleagues I heard the area was cheap to live in, with people being able to buy a house with a small deposit. The restaurants in the area were moderately priced, as were activities available.

I'm not entirely sure what the nightlife was like in the area I worked in as I did not go out at night in the area due to commuting in. However, i'm aware of some pubs that were available, although some areas were to be avoided due to obvious reasons.

There were many socials activities to get involved in within the office such as badminton and going out for dinner. There was also the opportunity to attend events related to the company such as project briefings. There is also the opportunity to work in an international office, however this wasn't available to me as a short term placement.