Test Engineer Review

Great people, very welcoming and understanding. Always willing to help. Work was always varied and I always got to explore different routes of doing different tests. I enjoyed working independently and with my colleagues as part of a team. The working environment was generally relaxed which allowed for good productivity and projects were completed to a high standard.

From day one I was treated like one of them. They would listen and engage me in discussions and see if I could come up with solutions or methods without support. But if I was unable they were always there to lend a hand and guide me in the right direction. I was invite to social events and we generally had lunch daily together.

My manager was always there to guide me with regards to professionalism, introducing me to Caterpillars values and working practises. The engineer I shadowed would help in any way, shape or form he could. He was a bank of knowledge and never made me feel less significant if I didn't know how to do something. I needed a fair bit of help getting started and getting used to the standard practises and equipment, further in I was trusted and capable of working independently.

The beginning of the placement was very slow to start as there was a lot of learning and training to do; as well as getting to know the equipment and the trucks I was to be working on. However further into the placement my days really did vary, a lot of my time was spent waiting for parts, fabrication, test data collection etc. so I made myself busier by writing reports, researching and learning about test methods and equipment, repairing/building test equipment, designing new test methods and documenting standard operating procedures.

For a placement student I felt I was given too much freedom and responsibility for my own workload too early in the process. However further into the placement I really felt I was capable and had received excellent feedback from my peers and management that they trusted me to work unsupervised. This meant I could define and run tests independently and felt as if I was making a difference and being useful.

During the placement I put a lot of my learning from university into practise and actually got hands on. This gave me a greater understanding of the engineering principles that I had learnt in theory. There were multiple online courses undertaken during the placement that gave me an insight into how an engineering company operates and tries to protect itself for the future. This has given me great transferrable skills that should help me further my career in great ways.

The office was extremely varied, you could always tell when people were concentrating and working to deadlines and when everybody was a bit more relaxed. I felt working in an office exposed me to lots conversations and learning opportunities. The office was split into large 4 person 'pods' where you predominantly work; however you could always speak to people working in the other pods. I had a great relationship with everybody in the office; and we were always able to help each other out if we overheard their discussions. Everybody was also up for a joke! But sometimes the office was more like a morgue, everybody stared into their screens in silence...

At the beginning of the placement I was unsure what I would be doing, this didn't get cleared up for many weeks even after asking questions. There was a lack of structure for the placement with no real learning or development plan. However this is partly down to the nature of the work that I did.

For my personal development there was a lot of 2 minute chats about workplace etiquette and standard practise. My manager was understanding and supportive of the work I was required to do for university during the time I would be on placement with them. I was also assigned a mentor to help my development.

There is a very appealing graduate scheme available, with a permanent job after its completion. Most facilities also have a Monitored Professional Development Scheme with the IMechE that I would be ready to join. And they also provide great support with development to Chartered Engineer status. I would be excited to join Caterpillar as a graduate. If I do I would expect my career to be varied and prosperous.

Not a great social scene, but there was a Christmas day trip and opportunities for charity events, go-karting, clay pigeon shooting.

Extremely low cost but so far from anywhere decent meant socialising happened rarely.

Non-existent. 0 stars...

Yes plenty of opportunities including golf tournaments, go-karting, clay pigeon shooting, gym, and plenty of charity events like bike riding.