Undergraduate Intern Review

I greatly enjoyed the work provided to me by my team as it covered a range of topics in the company. However, felt it was a lot more computer focussed than I was expecting and it would have been nice to have some time seeing the cars I was writing about. However, I know there is more scope for this on the graduate scheme. The work also did appeal to my software bias which was very interesting.

I greatly enjoyed working in my team. Everyone was very welcoming and made an effort to include me. This made me feel included so felt I could easily contribute in group discussions and team meetings. The team also ran team socials which I attended and I enjoyed spending time with the wider team.

I was given a complete list of objectives at the start of my placement and had them all explained to me by my manager. I was also introduced to the team and pointed in the direction of employees who would support me in achieving my objectives. Throughout the program I had a number of 1:1’s with my manager who was also easily contactable.

I was relatively busy on a day to day basis and did not feel particularly over worked. However, I would have perhaps liked some more challenging work with deadlines that would have allowed me to collaborate more with the team. However, overall the work was reasonable, but I would have liked to have got involved more on the product focussed side. However, there wasn’t always time for this.

Generally I would have preferred to have had a bit more responsibility. I often had to defer to senior employees when it came to make decisions on the projects I was working on whereas in previous placements I would have been trusted to make these decisions myself. I think I would have liked to have had a larger role and more responsibility in the projects I was carrying out for the company.

I was able to develop a wide range of excel skills and this was assist me beyond my degree excellently, hence I found this placement very useful. I also gained much knowledge from an engineering side although more knowledge that would assist me in industry / working in the future rather than in the rest of my degree.

Generally the office was very quiet to work in although there was some idle chatter. Smarter working sometimes made it difficult to sit with your team as you just found a desk and sat down. Also if the office was particularly busy it could be quite noisy so people often put there headphones in making it relatively anti-social.

Overall the placement set up was excellent. My team were prepared for me and the overall company was also prepared. We were provided with introductory lectures and team bonding activities on the first day in the company and events were organised throughout to include the undergraduate interns ensuring they felt like a member of the company.

With regards to training and personal development the company’s main focus for this is on the graduate scheme. Hence, for those doing 3 month placements other than some online courses there was very little training. There was also very little opportunity for personal development on training courses while I was on placement.

The main issue with the placement is a lot of the company benefits weren’t available to undergraduates who were only here on placement and those that were placement students were often not made aware of. However, knowing what would be available as a full time employee, the graduate scheme is relatively appealing.

JLR recommend relatively cheap accommodation for all undergraduates in Coventry town centre. This gives you the opportunity to socialise and meet other placement students. The accommodation is relatively close to all JLR sites with good public transport links. It also allows you to lift share to and from work as there is parking available at the accommodation. I found the cost of living relatively low due to the above.

Not very appealing.

There were opportunities but many people weren't aware of them until towards the end of the placement.