Business Systems Analyst Review

I've thoroughly enjoyed my time at Caterpillar. I feel the time here has flew by and that I have achieved a lot work-wise as well as personally. The work tasks I have been given have been varied and I feel I have learnt a large amount about the job role within Caterpillar.

I believe the colleagues I worked alongside within the work team and project team have seen me as an equal member which has made me feel like a valued colleague. I don’t feel as if I was looked-down upon for only being a placement student. Due to me not living locally to the site, I feel that this hindered my chances to get to know them better outside of the working environment- a fault of my own.

At the start of my placement I was paired up with another colleague within the team who I shadowed. From this, we set up weekly one to one sessions to ensure that he knew how I was getting on and discuss any issues I may have had which has helped me to feel more settled and understand my position within the team better. My Supervisor was always available to support me if need-be.

I have generally found that my working days are very busy and I never found a moment where I had nothing to do. If I felt I had a little free time, there was always something which could be picked up by myself to help another colleague out. However, if I felt that my workload was over-bearing then support was available to ensure that I wasn’t over-worked by reassessing my tasks and working out where the priorities were.

I feel the responsibility levels I had were the right balance. I found that any tasks that I was assigned always mattered to the overall performance and improvement to the company and the team. The work I was involved in wasn’t made up to ensure that I had something to do, it was real project work that affected the team.

The skills I have learnt during the year have been more than just academic. I have learnt some skills which I know will help in my studies and relate well to my dergree. However, I have also learnt and improved on some personal skills such as the importance of clear communication and organisation.

The atmosphere within the office was a good balance of serious yet fun. Close-by colleagues and I would always have a laugh if we felt it appropriate to. Celebrations were often shared throughout the team when projects had gone successfully or personal achievements had been met. There was never any awkward atmosphere, even during difficult times.

I believe the work placement was very well organised and I felt I fitted in straight away. There was never a moment where I felt that the team (and wider) weren’t prepared for the placements. There was lots of events which took place outside of work where all placement and graduate roles would meet up and do something locally such as bowling nights.

I felt that the company always invested time to ensure that personal training was carried out. Sessions with my supervisor ensured that I had time to discuss where I thought my development was at and to make sure that I was aware of where I could improve. I felt this shown me how I had excelled during the year.

I would very much like to be a part of the team after I have finished my degree at University. I feel that I have settled in well to my role within the team at Caterpillar and believe this is the career path I would take and the company I would choose.

Due to me not living near the site I didn’t have many opportunities to be involved with the social scene outside of work. However, when speaking to the other placement students they were always doing things together within the local area. Which even involved placements who weren’t within the team.

Due to me not living near the site I didn’t have any insight as to the costs of living and socialising within the local area.

Due to me not living near the site I didn’t have any insight to the nightlife as I was too far away to get involved with it.

There was always things going on outside of work that other placement students had set up or made others aware of. Other colleagues also set up after-work events to enable all other colleagues to meet up outside of work, in the pub!