Plant Quality Intern Review

This internship was my first, so therefore it involved a great deal of learning - and that is probably the thing I enjoyed the most. The three months in a Land Rover plant provided me with a great insight into the functioning of a car plant, as well as a massive business environment. However, as mentioned later, I wasn't able to develop my technical skills, so the time there was not exactly exhilarating.

My manager, as well as two direct supervisors, were very helpful and kind people, which made me feel valued and supported. However, expectedly, most of the other colleagues I had to interact me were very keen to ignore my e-mails and phone calls, since I was "just an undergraduate", and they were always "very busy". Fortunately, with enough persistance and keenness to meet people, I managed to befriend several senior colleagues and cooperate successfully.

The beginning of the placement was a bit slow, when I was told to assimilate with the environment and wasn't given any specific tasks. As you can imagine, finding tasks yourself in a workplace you have no idea about might be quite challenging, so a week in I spoke to my manager asking him for some proper work. At that point he realised that I was mostly sitting around and got me involved in a couple of projects. Later on both of my supervisors took care of me, providing me with guidance on the work I was carrying out.

Unfortunately the projects I was assigned were very long-term, and often required response of other people, which usually took very long. It was very hard to find additional work, when everyone has their strictly set routines and tasks, and there were few development opportunities available, so I was getting bored - not very often, but quite regularly.

Responsibility was something I had to fight for during my placement. Fortunately, after a month or so, when I finally managed to prove that I was both reliable and capable, people realised they could trust me with a job and that it would always be completed in a timely manner, and to the highest standards. That was when I started receiving responsibility, and my placement suddenly became a little more exciting.

My placement was in manufacturing engineering, so unfortunately I wasn't able to utilise or extend my technical knowledge and experience gained in an Aerospace Engineering Course. However, it was my first time working in such a vast environment (interacting with tens of different people each week), so I have learned a great deal about how people think and act in a workplace, which I think will be very useful for me in the future.

The atmosphere was very friendly and far from intimidating. Funnily enough, I was located in an office with three middle-aged women, so our topics for conversations diverged more often than not. Generally, those people that knew me personally and by name were rather friendly and tried to make me feel welcome.

As mentioned earlier, I had to wait for about a couple of weeks before I finally got some proper work. My manager admitted I was his first intern, so he wasn't quite prepared to take me in, and the idea for what he wanted me to do was very vague, and quite unrealistic. Eventually I ended up doing something much more useful and feasible, but very different from the original project. This was a result of my own initiative and convincing - without that I likely would be left there for 3 months doing not much down to nothing at all.

Shortly - not very much. As a 3-month intern I wasn't eligible for any training schemes, so my development was limited to some online managerial courses and what I could absorb from the surroundings. Not exactly an investment in my training.

Not very appealing at all to be honest. I was offered a grad scheme position (at £29k/year), but I have chosen to follow a more technical path and do a PhD instead.

There were only a few of us up in Liverpool, so the social scene wasn't big. But it was very friendly and welcoming - we've been out to dinner several times.

The cost of leaving was reasonable, and I assume similar to everywhere else (apart from London) - about £300 per month for a room in a shared house, plus whatever you spend on food and drinks. I was cycling to work, so that didn't cost me anything, but most people were taking a bus (£3.70/day) or driving.

All I know is that people of all ages get indecntly drunk at all times of the day, 7 days a week. I preferred to keep to myself and watch films instead!

No, not really. Aside from a cycling trip to a town 20 miles away.