Application Support Engineer Review

I used little experience gained from university, although a good experience from a business environment, very boring at times, due to the content of the job role.

I was involved in a number of projects where i was treated as a fully qualified member of the organisation. I had tasks of equal improtance as other members of group work, and treated as an equal most of the time.

Although my supervisor was over busy, he was always very helpful, and happy to teach me the background information of the companys structure and processes, giving me a good understanding of my job role, and place within the organisation.

My projects all took a long time to complete due to the nature of the company and its markets. Therefore i worked on a number of projects simaltaniously. Sometimes the work involved was tedious but neccesary, but there was plenty to do to keep me busy.

The projects that i was given were dedicated almost entirely to me to act upon and make decisions, so responsibility was quite high. Some of the jobs I worked on were not of the highest priority, but that was based on my experience of the company.

Although i didnt use many skills gained from university work, I developed my presentation, organisation/documentation skills, understanding of a company structure and teamworking skills. These will help me throughout my remaining university courses and my career afterwards.

Friendly and relaxed. I was comfortable to ask anyone of a specific dicipline within the company for advice or help, and i would usually get it with no problems.

I recieved training at the beginning of the placement, i had a number of projects of varying importance setup for me to work on, and i had scheduled meetings with an IMechE tutor who helped me document my placement year work.

a number of useful training sessions were used at the beginning of the year, including all of the standard health & safety training etc.

From my perspective people worked for many years in the same job without progressing to a new level with greater responsibilities. Some people moved to a number of jobs, but very few of them were i.e management roles, merely moving to different departments. It seemed to me difficult to gain a managerial role at the company, based on its structure.

We managed to spend 2 weeks with the previous placement students, who had all bonded very well, and are still in close contact with eachother. My year on placement was quite opposite. At the beginning a number of people would gather for social events, but as the year wore on, the groups became smaller, based on different interests. I didnt meet with many other students, instead met with my current friends from home at university on weekends sometimes instead.

I started in an expensive 2 man flat, then 1/2 way through the placement moved into a much cheaper 4 bed house. Socialising was average price, but i chose not to do it much where i was living. Instead i spend more money travelling home or to see friends.

Daventry is pretty poor to put it kindly. I went out once the whole year. Northampton is much better, but again i chose not to visit there to much, because of the company attending.

There was a gym which i attended for 5 months, but some students played for the companys football team, others played golf.. some even did dancing classes in Northampton. There is plenty to do if you want to spend the money, as its not to far away.