Summer Placement Mechanical Engineer Review

The internship was a a great experience, it allowed me to see how a large scale project is carried out. It's also good to apply skills learned from university into an application where it actually matters.

They were always friendly with me. We would regularly go for lunch which made a big difference and made me feel like I was a valued member of the team.

Everyone was willing to help with any queries and often went out of their way to help/find someone that could. They always made sure that I had support if I needed it.

Some days were busier than others, however this is to be expected in a working environment. I very rarely found myself bored, as the project was one of such a large scale that when I didn't have a specific task, I could be doing some personal research to further my knowledge of the project. There was only a few times that I ended up staying later than the typical finish time, however this was completely voluntary and not expected of me.

I was given a large amount of responsibility throughout the placement. I was solely in charge of two major projects, and enjoyed having this responsibility. There was always someone there to help if I needed it however.

The placement helped develop my team working skills within a working environment, which was a great benefit of the placement. This is only an advantage for approaching other projects, wherever they may be. The usage of industry standard software was also very helpful.

I was based in two offices during the placement. In the main office, the atmosphere was friendly but professional. Everybody was always happy to help, however it was very "work orientated". In the other office, it was much more laid back, but the productivity didn't suffer because of this. This office had a younger team, so this could be expected.

The placement itself was set up quite well. I feel that the organisation of the team at HO could have been slightly better, there were a few occasions at before the placement began when I had queries and I was passed about with no one being able to answer them, when it turned out the original person I spoke to could Have answered the question. However, apart from this, it was organised well.

The firm invested a lot of time and effort into me. The project manager took time out of his hectic schedule to welcome me, as well as regularly make sure I didn't have any issues. My line manager was worried that I wouldn't receive any experience relevant to my studies, and arranged a secondment within one of the companies the Costain is working with on this project, to ensure I gained relevant experience. I was given a laptop so that I didn't have to use my personal one. Costain also covered my travel to my placement (this was a substantial amount).

The opportunities are there for future employment, which is something I would go forth with if the opportunity presented itself.

Within the team in the secondment, we regularly went for lunches and this team was quite sociable. The main team wasn't very sociable.

It was expensive, but this is to be expected in one of the biggest cities in the country.

The nightlife is good, there are endless places to go.

Unfortunately there wasn't.