Industrial Student Placement Review

As a student I was working alongside a professional or multiple. Progressing with report writing - remediation work/ defects, cost analysis evaluations and attending training and workshops that covered all things civil. As I was a short industrial placement - I had daily check ins to complete for my university module (professional placement) and therefore part of my experience was building up professional skills and insight I gained from Mott MacDonald to my lecturers through my logbook and case study.

After my short spell of 4.5 months working alongside professionals, I feel I have gained a wealth of skills and attributes as a student progressing onto my final year. Through workshops, training days and one to one talks with both senior and graduate engineers I feel it is easier now to understand where the knowledge I have gained from university is applied to in real life situations. Although I never experienced being on site due to the secure nature of the work I was involved with, through all of the online training and accessible portal of information Mott MacDonald had to offer, I could still understand the different processes and regulations in place for multiple sectors. Overall, I feel my report writing skills have significantly improved as well as my understanding for technology used in civil engineering such as MathCad and SAP3000.

Initially I had very little responsibility during my placement as work cannot be immediately available to students. However, after gaining security clearance and sufficient training I was able to complete remediation and recommendation work within surveys alongside the help of graduate and senior civil engineers. I was also able to complete myself a cost analysis study with a principal engineer to assess the costs for a waste to energy facility using SPON’s Architectural and Builder’s Book.

I always felt supported on placement from the people at the same level as me to the senior/ principal members of staff. I never felt excluded or not worthy of participating in work and always felt able to ask questions or query why certain work had to be carried out a certain way. My line manager carried out bi-weekly meetings with me but would often check in every other day. I had a buddy who was a graduate civil engineer and he often touched base with me whenever he could. I felt very lucky to be so supported as a student.

The general atmosphere was calm and hard working. There was often plenty opportunities to have a chat and coffee break and get to know the people around you. I particularly enjoyed the catered lunch meetings/workshops where guest speakers were invited and everyone could have lunch together whilst listening to new voices about upcoming opportunities in engineering. With hybrid working I still felt in the office with lots of chat in teams.

I enjoyed my placement as much as I thought I would when I applied. The interview from when I first applied although taunting, was relaxed and personal which I like. I felt welcomed immediately and enjoyed that a lot of the staff were young people and have went through similar experiences to my own and enjoy similar hobbies. My line manager I couldn’t thank enough for how supportive and kind she was. I knew I could ask many questions and she’d have an answer for all of them.

Yes

The best advice I would give would be to involve yourself and ask. Ask as many questions to as many people and what their job is. Understanding other people’s job and what they do is a great opportunity to see what’s out there for yourself. Gaining work is also important. Engage with other people and let them know if you have an interest in what they do, keep in touch and network when you can.