Civil Engineering Year in Industry Student - Tunnels Review

As my first civil engineering related work experience, I was unsure what to expect in an office environment. For the first few weeks I absolutely hated being there and told myself that I wouldn't want to work in the industry when I graduate. I spoke too soon! Once I became more involved in projects, my time at Motts flew by and the work was really interesting. I don't think I could have had a better placement year and I really enjoyed the work that I was doing.

For one of my projects, I spent about 6 months assisting the design manager to a very large project. This meant that I was constantly liaising with different teams (about 100 people), and they all were aware of the importance of my role - so I felt extremely valued! It also helped that everyone was so friendly and helpful so it made me realise the importance of good relationships at work. As much as I was excited to return to being a student, I was actually really sad to leave (I never thought I'd say that!).

I can't fault the support that I received whilst working here. If there was anything I needed then it was very easy to go and ask my manager. My supervisors on each project were equally as friendly and approachable, and due to the size of Mott MacDonald, it was clear that they had taken many undergraduates and graduates before, and therefore knew how to look after them well.

To begin with, I had very little to do (for the first few weeks) - which is why I didn't enjoy it much. Once I became more engaged in projects, there was plenty of work to do. The department that I was working in almost had too much work, which meant that there was rarely a shortage. There were times where I had a little too much work for some deadlines, and other times where I was running out of work, but I feel that generally my workload was well-balanced.

Whilst working on my main project, I was responsible for the project's deliverable list and helping out with the project's programme - which I felt was a huge responsibility because these were constantly delivered to very senior members of our contractor. As a placement student I didn't expect to get this much responsibility, but it really helped me to focus and enjoy the work that I was doing.

I think the main benefit of these placement is to get a better understanding of what you do or do not want to do as a graduate, and this placement was fantastic in this respect. It also gave me a much better understanding of how the industry works, and in particular how a consultancy works. I also was able to begin my quarterly reports for chartership, which means that when I graduate, I will already be 1 year ahead of other fresh graduates.

I spent my time in 2 offices. One of them was very quiet with most people working on their own project, and the other office was very lively as everyone was working on the same project. Both were very friendly and comfortable, and it was easy to be productive in both environments. I was always sitting with graduates and young professionals, so this had more of a fun atmosphere.

Very well organised. As I mentioned before, Mott MacDonald is a highly reputable company with a well established graduate and undergraduate scheme. This meant that they knew how to settle me in and already knew which projects I was going to be working on. They were also very proactive in regards to workloads, and they were able to give me more work before I had ran out of work on a previous project.

I spent time on the standard online introduction courses, and had some assistance when compiling my quarterly reports, but I didn't feel like I was supported in the same way as the other graduates were. It felt like I was just an undergraduate (which I am), rather than a graduate with a long future with the company - which would have been nice. I don't feel like this is unfair, but it would have made me more keen to apply as a graduate if I knew that they had treated me as if I were one during this placement.

I was not offered a graduate job on completion of my placement (I still had 2 years left at university), however, I feel that Motts is a fantastic company and would definitely consider working for them when I graduate. The only negative is that I didn't enjoy working in London due to it being so expensive, and therefore would not be too keen to return to the same office.

Yes! Other graduates would go for drinks almost every week, as well as having lunch together most days, so there were plenty of things going on. There were also events organised with work - such as Christmas events and events with the project team (sometimes completely paid for by the company!) which were great fun! There were also birthday and leaving drinks occasionally, so it was a very social atmosphere.

Very expensive. Just over half of my pay went on rent - which is quite depressing!

London has fantastic nightlife for anyone who can afford it!

As I mentioned before, there were many opportunities to go for drinks. There were also many opportunities to get involved in other stuff. I went on a day trip to Bruges in November for £25 (subsidised by the company)! And there were a lot of sports the you can get involved in - from football to rock climbing to skiing. There were loads of emails throughout the year asking whether people were interested in going to places too.