Undergraduate Placement - Consulting Review

I found the placement thourably enjoyable and believe it was of great benifit to my development. The work was challanging and there was a lot to learn in the short period of time, but I was glad to be kept busy and engaged.

Colleagues were very helpfull and went out of there way to involve me in whatever they were working on. I recieved help and advice whenever I asked for it. My colleagues always made me feel that my questions were worth their time in answering fully.

My manager made time to ask me how I was getting on and offer assistance and guidance. A work review system every used effectively to complement timesheets and provide management and guidence. At times my manager was understandably too busy too help me, but the role of offering support and guidance was delegated to graduates at those times.

I was given time to work things through logically and methodicall without having too much pressure, which I was gratefull for as there was a lot to learn in the short time period. However, at times the pace I could proceed was dependant on other factors such as finance. As I was only usually involved with one or two project simultaniously, I didnt have the flexibility to manage my work around such delays so I was perhaps not working at full efficiency. To improve my efficiency I could have been given other projects to work on while my main project was at a standstill.

I was given more responsibility than I had expected, which was very rewarding. I was given the opportunity to undertake a site walkover, representing my department in a multi-disciplinary investigation. Using the notes and photographs I took during the site visit I produced a report which the rest of the team would require in later phases of the project.

One of the main achievements I believe I can take back to University is a more professional writting style. I believe the time I spent re-phrasing reports based on my managers feedback was very worthwile and has definately improved my report writing skills, which will help me next year when I write my dissertation. My technical skills were also developed and I now appriciate a whole aspect of the geotechnical process which was not really taught at university. The preliminary stages of the process (including determining preliminary engineering assessments anf material properties) is not well covered in my course, but I believe learning more about it has given me more of a well rounded knowlage and understanding of geotechnical engineering. I was also shown a few emperical techniques to make preliminary assessments which would otherwise be imposible, and I believe such expeience is invaluable to my development as an engineer.

The office was busy and friendly and I felt as though I could as anobody for help with anything. I really enjoyed the office and think the areas (kitchen, meeting rooms etc) worked really well.

The placement was very well organised and everything was run smoothly. I enjoyed sharing the experience with other students, of which there were perhaps around 8 all together. The only poorly organisied aspect was in HRs dealing with tax codes. I submitted a P38 which should have allowed my tax code to be 'NT', however despite calling the HR department on numerous occasions, they insisted that tax codes couldnt be changed. I will now have to wait untill the end of the tax year to claim back my dues from HMRC directly.

I was invited to attend a few training seminars which all contributed to the experience. I was also given a driving assessment to allow me to drive the company cars, while also improving my driving skills.

I think I would really enjoy a career with Amey.

A number of events were planned throughout the placement which was good, as well as occasionally organising lunches out. I was invided back to the Chrismas lunch which was a nice gesture as its after the placement ends.