Undergraduate Trainee Engineer Review

The work that I was undertaking matched what I aspire to do, where the responsibility alongside workload balanced perfectly making it feel like a job that I want to do for many years to come. The work that I was undertaking felt important and necessary, rather than just a project given to the undergraduate. It was remarkably easy waking up at 5am every day and staying for as long as I needed to for my role, exemplified by the fact in which I extended my contract in March to stay until September.

While on placement I got along extremely well with my colleagues, where they were always happy to offer their insight and knowledge in respect to a task that I may have been struggling that, and always offering my welcomed constructive criticism in respect to my work, so I can improve it and delivery a much refined product. Not only that, in regards to certain colleagues, I found it easy to just have a chat with them, be it about work or current affairs, something that helped me integrate into the team and the department

Although my manager was very busy most of the time, and always in meetings, he was always offered to give me support in any task I was undertaking and we would sit down once every 2 weeks and go over the work that I was currently doing, making sure that my priorities lined up correctly with the business' and the department's, and also so that I delivered a high quality product. In respect to my supervisor, she was always willing to offer her advice and help me with a task that I was struggling with, which definitely helped with my confidence and development.

At any given time I was involved in multiple tasks, all of which were important to the needs of the team and the department. Although I was involved with multiple tasks at once, I very rarely felt overwhelmed or too busy to get anything done. The work that I was doing was interesting and doable, even from the very start meaning I was able to get started and get straight into completing the task without much guidance.

While at Jaguar Land Rover, I was given a good amount of responsibility for my main project, in which I was completely in charge and was given complete freedom in order to complete the task. In respect to other projects, I was given a more controlled degree of responsibility, especially with the tasks that involved working with other members of the team. This balance helped me understand my work better and balance the workload.

In respect to my degree, the technical skills I developed may not assist me as such. My development in the use of the MATLAB command language is not a programming language that will be used in my 3rd year at university, however the basic structure and syntax of the MATLAB language can be translated into multiple programming languages such as C and Java, and those will be used to a wide extent next year. However, my development with MATLAB will greatly assist me in future job roles as MATLAB is used heavily and widely in industries all around the world, and experience in using it and writing scripts in it is invaluable in this modern world. In terms of personal development, I have greatly developed my soft skills such as communication and teamwork through working as a team at Jaguar Land Rover and being surrounded by strangers, two skills that will be useful in my final year at university. Not only that, the work ethic from working 7-330 every day will translate well in making sure I attend lectures every single day and completing all coursework on time.

The atmosphere in the office was very relaxed, people would get on with their jobs and it was very easy to get work done, though at the same time, it was possible to approach someone and have a quick chat. Not only that you were allowed to listen to music and eat at your desks and have coffee and snacks out, making it a very relaxed and easy place to get work done, as I find strictness and rigidness can sometimes hinder motivation and eagerness to go to work.

Overall, the placement was set up very well. The process in receiving the contracts and getting the job was easy and well set up. With members of staff on facebook to give guidance and help. On our first day we had an induction which helped us get into the company and on my first day in the office, they had work and projects ready for me to tackle and also my laptop ready so there was no waiting around. Overall I found the placement to be set up very well, though an inpdepth technical overview would have been appreciated.

In terms of personal training and development, the company offer something called the ELS, the employee learning scheme which allocates up to £200 in a training course of your choice. In my situation I used mine for both financial years that I was at the company for driving lessons. Something that helped subsidise the cost massively. Other than that there were not many oppurtunities for personal development, though plenty for professional development.

As a result of my placement, I have been offered a graduate role with Jaguar Land Rover, on the condition that I achieve a 2.2 in my final year at University, and that Jaguar Land Rover have permission to hire in the 2017 calendar year. This is something that I worked very hard to get the offer for so I am delighted that they have offered me it, and it gives me something to work towards at University, as I am definitely interested in returning.

In respect to placement students, the social scene was very poor, though that fell on the faults of my fellow students. For colleagues, it was definitely much better, with the graduate forum putting on a variety of decent events, such as trips to the Birmingham Christmas market and paintballing. In addition, my department set up football on Wednesdays, something that was definitely fun to attend, as it helped me get to know my colleagues.

In my experience, the cost of living was very, very expensive in Leamington, with rent being £500p/m before bills. The pubs in the area are decent, with some being cheaper than others due to the presence of Warwick University student. This may have been a result of the area in which I was living though.

Nightlife okay, a lot of pubs which is something I personally enjoy. There were 3 clubs in and around Leamington that a lot of people go to which were okay, and then there's the Kasbah in Coventry which is very popular.

The graduate forum hosted a good amount of events ranging from a gin evening, wine and cheese tasters, days and trips out and sporting activities which helped you socialise with graduate colleagues. On top of that there are a fair few sporting clubs around leamington, multiple rugby and rugby league clubs and football which made it very easy to join a team. JLR sponsoring the Wasps also gave plenty opportunities to get cheap tickets in order to go and watch the Wasps at the Ricoh arena.