Student Engineer Review

I really enjoyed my work placement with Morgan Sindall working on the a bypass expansion as I got the chance to put my academic knowledge taught in university into practice in a 'real life' job. I got the chance to experience lots of areas of working such as health and safety, commercial, environment as well as the more traditional route for civil engineering as a site engineer.

My colleagues at my work placement really made me feel part of the team. My project manager would always take time out to make sure I was happy and enjoying what I was doing, he too would set me tasks and he would help set out my rota and ensure I was getting maximum benefit from the placement. Even everyone of site made me feel valued by waving to me and chatting to me to make me feel comfortable, they were all very quick to learn my name and introduce themselves to me.

My project manager was very helpful as he was the one who orchestrated my rota round the office to ensure I got to experience a little bit of each sector of the office. The supervisor I was allocated was a little bit too high up in the office chain to really help but anyone I asked was willing to help me whenever I was stuck. Morgan Sindall have already signed me up to a training agreement to become chartered and are encouraging me to progress, They could have given my project manager a little more guidance on what they expected me to do whilst I was there though.

To start with I wasn't very busy I had a very boring first couple of day with not much to do other than look through drawings and long documents but slowly I was given more as people realised my capability. I was not allocated my own desk space on computer which made work difficult. When I was allocated to a certain person in my rota they would always make sure they would give me tasks.

Because I am young and inexperienced I was not given very much responsibility. Having a rota round the office meant I got a grounding in everything but also meant I never learnt enough to gain any responsibility. I would feel I was just about getting somewhere in one sector and then I would have to move to another department.

My training has been very broad so has really helped in my degree studies, it has given me purpose and I now see what I am aiming for when I graduate. I have made lots of contacts in the office who are always willing to help me when I get stuck with my coursework too. I am also utilising Morgan Sindall to help with questionnaires for my dissertation study which is very useful and without it I would not have been able to do this research. Being signed up to me training agreement has meant that I am miles ahead of my peers in terms of my competencies and should go straight into a good role when I graduate.

The general atmosphere in my office was quite happy and cheerful it was a joint venture between two companies which meant it wasn't only Morgan Sindall staff that I networked with. Everyone was pleasant and happy to help whenever I needed it. There were times when project stresses could be seen but its inevitable in the industry.

The placement was semi well organised the company promised me transport to use for placement which fell through and was very disappointing and caused lots of inconvenience as I had to get lifts with colleagues daily just to be able to get to work as the site was inaccessible by public transport. This also meant I ended up working a lot more hours than I was contracted for. When I arrived my project manager had no idea of my experience or capabilities but thank fully he was experience enough to set me on track and give me a good placement in the end.

The company have given me CSCS training and signed me up to my ICE training agreement and given me and SCE as a mentor. I am on a scholarship scheme so I undertake a placement year on year in different places which enhances my experience and I expect to work with them on graduation.

Since I am on the QUEST scheme and will have worked 3 summer placements with Morgan Sindall by the time I graduate future employment is very promising and I hope that I will graduate and work with Morgan Sindall. It is in the sector of work that I want to bee in and I can see from future scholars the progressions that they are making already.

There were no other Morgan Sindall placements students on my site and no graduates either. The office tended to be quite mature and I had a very long commute to work and back. They also have a long site working day from 7-7 so its is almost impossible to have a social life around work. Once they organised a site bbq for all the staff and another time we went go karting to built team spirit which was fun.

I already was already paying for two houses at university as it was a summer placement and my contracts overlapped so I simply couldn't afford another house closer thus it took an hour drive each way from my colleagues to me to travel to works. Since the site hours were 7-7 although I worked a little less it did not leave any time for socialising in the evenings until I got the time to travel to friends and families houses at the weekends.

I did not experience the nightlife as I did not have a chance as working day was 7-7 and I did not know anyone else in the area apart from colleagues who were older than me to socialise with. I went to visit family and friends at the weekends instead.

There was no opportunity to get involved in activities outside of work since the working day was so long and i had a long commute either side. I lived away from my friends and family so barely knew anyone to socialise with; thus I went to visit family and friends every weekend.