Vehicle Engineering Undergraduate Review

Overall I have enjoyed the internship and the experience that it has provided me with. My day to day enjoyment, however was heavily dependent upon whether there was testing being done that week. Testing offered a great opportunity to get out of the office and hands on with the cars. In comparison the data processing required for the production of the test reports was extremely time consuming and relatively uninteresting.

Overall, I feel the project I was given allowed me to make a good contribution to the team and felt valued. However, my project also had little opportunity for development, meaning that it was difficult for me to display my full capabilities and contribute more than was assigned. Working in a very busy department with mostly individual work also meant that feedback on my contribution was rare.

I am very satisfied with the support and guidance that I have been given by both my manager and the rest of the team. I joined the department at a difficult time and have been supported in my work throughout the whole placement by the team. My manager has always made time for me, ensuring that I have sufficient work and that there is always someone to ask in the department for help or work.

I have had a good balance of work. Unfortunately the majority of work given has been very individual and computer data processing based with long deadlines which has meant that I have always had work to do, but have lacked motivation or interest in work. Initially it was also difficult to gain access to folders and programmes required for the job role which meant I could not carry out the work assigned.

I was given quite little responsibility due to the length of my placement and the nature of the work. I mainly supported testing or conducted data processing which left little time to develop or lead my own tests. If the placement had been longer, I feel I would have had more opportunity and a better understanding of the department to undertake this kind of work and have more responsibility.

The experience of report writing for tests will be of benefit to my degree, but mostly the experience of a work environment, managing my time and input to the team will be especially important for work after University. I haven’t learnt any new skills, but have developed previous skills with regards to use of Micorsoft Office, presenting and communication skills and adapting to different work environments with work in the wind tunnel.

The office environment was quite disappointing, working in a large room with no windows and poor air conditioning. The majority of the work was individual with two meetings a week with the team. I could go a full day barely having spoken to anyone within my team. I think this was probably the most negative aspect of the placement.

The organisation of the internship was very good. Despite issues with a change in management of the department, a project had been set aside for me. There was a really interesting induction day which provided information on the company and chance nearing the end of placement to provide feedback on your experience.

The fact that it is a paid placement means that the company is already investing in you. However there was little training provided beyond this, but this is not unexpected for a 3 month placement. Objectives were set at the beginning of the placement providing details of a project to be undertaken. Monthly meetings with my manager were arranged to ensure targets were met and aid personal development.

The graduate jobs available at JLR offer a lot of scope for personal development over a wide range of departments. Through completing placement and approval from your manager the process to obtaining a graduate job with your department is very simple. HR let you know at the end of your placement whether you have been successful.

Due to the size of the company there are a vast number of placement students over a huge range of departments. This is good as it allows you to network with a lot of different people, however I found that because the company is so big, there was little chance to socialise with other placement students in work. Many events were also organised among the office staff offering more chance to socialise with colleagues.

I lived in the accommodation suggested by JLR for 3 month placement students. The accommodation was based in Coventry which was cheap and cost of living was generally very cheap. However, my office was over 20 miles away from Coventry and incurred huge costs in petrol although this was reduced by car sharing. Many work related social events were also held Leamington Spa which is closer to the JLR site, which made travel logistics more difficult.

As mentioned above, the area lived in was quite far from the area worked in. Many of the 3 month placement students lived in the same accommodation however, so although there was only one good pub and one club there was always something going in making for a good nightlife.

There were lots of different activities to get involved with both inside and outside work. In Coventry there is a great array of sports facilities, cinema, restaurants, shops etc. Living with other placement students meant there were always people planning activities providing lots to get involved with. The company also provided the opportunity to learn new skills with a learning scheme for a variety of activities.