General Assembly Engineer Review

I enjoyed this placement during the days I had been given challenging projects and tasks to complete. The first few weeks of the placement were boring, as I did not have anything interesting going on. However, I enjoyed the second half of the placement.

The employees in my department were very supportive of my ideas and many offered me help when i needed it. However, several colleagues from the other departments were not very respectful in certain occasions and did not co-operate very much. In a couple of projects, I felt that some colleagues did not adhere to several agreed procedures and therefore the project was not completed in the manner I would have liked it to get completed.

My manager and supervisor were very supportive of me and guided me very well during several tasks. My supervisor also ensured that I was given tasks of an engineering nature during the placement so that I could gain engineering experience as much as possible.

During some weeks I was given a lot of tasks and projects, but during some weeks I did not have a lot of work. I was busy mostly during the second half of my placement.

I was given the responsibility to complete several critical projects and tasks that were to play a vital role in the production in the upcoming months.

I was able to improve my communication and time management skills during this placement through meeting deadlines and interacting with colleagues while completing projects and tasks. I also got a good insight into the limitations in the industry and I hope to use this knowledge when completing projects at university. I also hope to use this work experience to secure a good job after I graduate.

The general atmosphere in the office was quite friendly. Everyone met deadlines systematically without any panic and this kept the atmosphere of the office fairly relaxed.

The overall work placement was not very organized and there was no structured format to it. Although my manager, supervisor and colleagues from my department were supportive and I had received instructions from my predecessor during the handover period, I still believe the amount of formal training I recieved was insufficient.

The company did not invest at all. I was not enrolled into any personal training and development courses. I also did not get the opportunity to travel abroad for work to other plants as several of my class-mates at university did, in other international organizations.

From my understanding, there does not seem to be a great deal of employment prospects in my department. However, this might not be the case for other departments.

The other placement students were friendly and we went on several night outs. We also played sports such as football a few times.

The cost of living and socializing was faily cheap, especially in the ellesmere port area. However the chester area is relatively expensive.

There was no nightlife in the area I worked in but the nightlife in the closest major city was decent.

There were not many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work.