Undergraduate Intern - Body Engineering Review

I enjoyed many aspects of my placement and since it was such a big company with so many sites, there were always new things to see. The automotive industry is really exciting and I enjoyed working on projects that would only be made public in the next few years. It was really interesting to see how a large business operates with so many departments and teams working together. It was a great opportunity for networking and the work atmosphere was really enjoyable.

Often when I completed a task, someone on my team would thank me for doing it which made it rewarding and I was always willing to get involved. I was able to attend various meetings where I felt like I was being treated as any other member of the team and my opinions were listened to and feedback taken into account.

Whenever I asked for support from my manager, he was always helpful but he was on holiday for 3 weeks during my placement so was not always around to help me. Although there were other supervisors around to answer any questions for me if I needed, I was often unsure about how much I should bother people that were not directly responsible for me.

I was assigned a project at the start of my placement but all the equipment required was not in place for me starting so my first couple of weeks were spent doing odd jobs and I was slightly bored. Once the project got underway, I was much busier which was good although on some days when my manager and supervisor were out of office, I was not left with much to do.

I was given almost complete responsibility of my project and had to complete a write up for it too. This meant I could make more contacts and ask various different people for advice, allowing me to network within the company. I went to meetings on behalf of my supervisor which was also good for my confidence.

This internship has definitely given me a lot of practical experiences which compliments the largely theoretical engineering course at my university. Also, working in the automotive industry and enjoying it has made me want to consider it as a long term career option and helped me choose my university modules for the next year.

The office was fairly relaxed and the members of my team got on well with each other so there was an air of wanting to work together rather than being forced to. This was also important in making me feel comfortable around the people I was working with and not being afraid to ask questions.

There was a project in place for me before I started but delays in equipment being delivered meant I was sometimes left with nothing to do. It would have been good if there was some back up plan for me. However, the project itself was self-contained and interesting so I learned a lot while I was doing it.

There were a lot of online self learning courses about the business as well as personal skills which were interesting and helped my personal development.

The future employment prospects are very appealing since the graduate scheme is very well established and gives you the opportunity to see many different parts of the business before deciding where you might want to work in the long term. I have had the chance to speak to many people on the graduate scheme and they are all enjoying themselves so it is definitely an option I will consider in the future.

Yes, I was staying in student accommodation with around 90 other interns at JLR which meant there were many people willing to socialise or go to the gym or the pub with. It made the thought of staying and working in a strange city much more manageable. It was really good to make friends with people sharing many of the same academic interests. Also, it made lift sharing to work much more convenient.

The accommodation was fairly good value for money and with many supermarkets nearby, it was possible to keep costs down if you were sensible.

I don't actually know

There were many opportunities around the area we were staying in Coventry for leisure and sports.