Vacation Student (Civil Water) Review

With hindsight I would say I enjoyed all aspects of my placement; my colleagues, my tasks, my managers, my field trips and my lunchtime playtime activities. If I was to narrow what I enjoyed most during my placement I would say working with my colleagues, Will McBain and Adam Broadhead in particular, the projects we worked on together and the design freedom they gave me on various tasks such as the Marina Design. Secondly I enjoyed the lunchtime playtime sessions equally where I got the chance to bond with my colleagues in a fun and active environment.

I really felt like one of the team at Arup with my colleague especially when working with them on tasks, how they took my opinion during activities, how we bonded on lunchtime activities and how we took turns bringing each other beverages throughout the day, every day that I worked there.

I was given fantastic support by my manager, especially during the initial few days and the rest of the placement with all aspects of my placement such as how timesheets work, what I need to do to ask for an additional monitor and my work hours. I was given tasks and guidance on those tasks when I was stuck and needed assistance.

I was perfectly balanced during the majority of my placement with Arup however did feel a sharp steep learning curve during the start of my placement which I do not consider a negative. I was kept occupied and constantly on the ball with all my tasks and felt beautifully busy.

I was given an equivalent amount of responsibility as a graduate engineer which was very good for me in terms of practice and evidence for when I apply for a job after I graduate. I was solely responsible with things like partnership funding and government aid on a project and solely designing a marina.

During my second year at university, I decided that I would like to specialise in Flood risk engineering and pursue a career in this field. Thanks to this placement I have found out the knowledge, motivation and skills required to fulfil the role of a flood risk engineer. I have learnt that this discipline will draw upon all aspects of my education and experiences, every day required a surge of motivation and hard work which is now apparent with hindsight. I also learnt the impact flood risk engineers have on communities and cities with the services they provide; they literally save lives and capital from flood risk.

At appropriate times it was quite as everyone focused on their work however my colleagues often visited me and I visited them for a chat and some laughs keeping the office and atmosphere light and fun. It was also more fun during lunch time activities in the activity room on our floor and more fun downstairs during playtime activities when professionals came in to deliver special sessions for us

Very good, it was well structured with a very good induction, work activities set up throughout the placement period however 10% of the time I was looking for work from other colleagues

On the first day of arrival on placement I along with two other placement students were given an induction session complete with a PowerPoint, induction handout and a health and safety briefing. Thereafter the induction continued with meeting Nicole Rabier who introduced all members of staff on the floor I would potentially work with; with their job title and nature of work, along with introducing a bit about myself. Furthermore, as a new employee I was required to complete an IT induction which familiarised me with my computer’s hardware, programs and procedures; for instance an Arup employee messenger application called Lync and how to register an IT fault respectively. Additionally I completed a work station assessment and voluntarily completed an Arup style CV used to include in documents and reports produced by Arup. Additionally, as part of my placement I was given the opportunity of going on site visits for the Leeds FAS discussed in more detail in section 2.5, which required me to take a GSSB (general site safety briefing). I also got trained to use ArcGIS and the Flood estimation handbook software

I would and have, recommended Arup as a vacation placement provider as they provide a comprehensive learning and working experience for your career path and are a joy to work with considering they colleagues, work based activities and atmosphere. I have already recommended Arup to 4 students and look forward to working with Arup in the future.

Yes with placement students and colleagues, at appropriate times it was quiet as everyone focused on their work however my colleagues often visited me and I visited them for a chat and some laughs keeping the office and atmosphere light and fun. It was also more fun during lunch time activities in the activity room on our floor and more fun downstairs during playtime activities when professionals came in to deliver special sessions for us

It was the same city that i was studying in for the past 3 years so cost of living was relatively cheap along with socialising

Excellent, Leeds is renowned for its awesome nightlife and my workplace was in the city center.

During lunch time activities in the activity room on our floor and more fun downstairs during playtime activities when professionals came in to deliver special sessions for us. Also there were weekly trips to the pub on friday with work colleagues