Undergraduate Trainee: Foundation Brakes Review

Personally I was placed in the wrong part of the business for the degree and skills I have. This was a challenge and was not what my previous placements were like, this often led to me getting bored and particularly at the beginning not having the knowledge to hit the ground running. This is also a positive point as I was outside my comfort zone developing autonomy, my targets and new knowledge.

When a job needed to be done quickly or they needed some advice people would come and ask me to help. The jobs would not necessarily be a project, often just locating parts or moving parts from A to B, but this would break up the day. I see the value of the work I did, it was not really the challenge I wanted but it allowed me to see different areas and processes.

My manager would give me the support if I sought it out, however they were not all that easy to seek due to how busy they were. The autonomy this allowed me though was great as i could go and experience different areas and departments. I would say that the support when I did ask was very informed and would point me in the right direction.

The workload would come in waves, sometimes I would have very little to no work then suddenly something would happen and a week would fly by. This is really to be expected from a large company, as you have to wait for suppliers or other colleagues to finish their work but the deadline does not move.

I got to be autonomous during my placement, so it was fun to drive my own development and locate different opportunities within the wider business. This allowed me the opportunity to apply for professional registration, go for insight visits at suppliers or within the business and set my own targets for training.

My main project was a literature review, so the research, analysing and discussion skills will really help with my dissertation however It may not be sufficient enough for me to write my placement report around. They really helped with my professional registration offering guidance and this will obviously be a huge benefit for me in the future and something to be proud of. I would say the experiences more than the skills would be what I take on further, using them to potentially develop process in the future.

The office structure was a SMART office so often it was very quiet and remote, but everyone is friendly and approachable. This makes learning and developing so much easier. I tended to sit in the same place so I could be located easily, this often meant I interacted with a smaller group, which in hindsight probably stilted my work load.

My placement was a non-standard one for the company, so I often got missed of lists and emails, with my induction coming 2 months in. I was provided with all my equipment that I needed and my accounts were set up, just a little hitch at the beginning with my email address. Overall the process was great and there was always an opportunity to meet other Undergraduates which is something the company has really worked on.

There was a minimum amount of training required to be completed around 6 hours worth, on the environment, brand protection and company. I had department specific training which was great to build up my knowledge. Online training varied from videos to interactive screens, with the screens being more useful and better training. Also provided help to apply to become professionally registered.

I would come back. In a different part of the business. The company is on a rise at the moment and the new products in development look set to sustain the current trajectory. The graduate scheme has many perks and opportunities to experience other areas that I may not necessarily have thought about before joining.

Amongst colleagues we would go out around once a month for a meal or drinks. With other students I saw a few but did not really see all that many of them. If you stayed at the student accommodation you mixed more but I lived with my partner so did not really get much of an opportunity.

I lived about 1.5 hours from work and lived in a one bedroom flat with my partner, which was nice but I was removed from many of the other students so did not really socialise with them. However I had my partner and her friends, looked to join the rugby club and make friends in and around that area. So it was reasonably expensive but thats not really due to the company more through a personal choice

N/A as I lived miles away, but the nightlife for going for dinner is fantastic.

Lots, the company offer Volunteering hours for every employee to go paint fences or garden in the local area. I went to my old school to promote engineering and the company. The specially set up graduate forum organised paint balling, a ball, an electric car project and various other events while I was there.